Axios

Trump administration officials say they are now mandating that AI companies notify and correct security incidents following Anthropic's "fraudulent" use of government systems.

Why it matters: The administration's approach to AI regulation had been voluntary at least in name — until now.

• "This notification and remediation process is not optional," White House Super Intelligence Force leaders said in a statement shared exclusively with Axios. "It is a critical national security obligation."

We're in the golden age of decacorns.

• The average time from launch to decacorn has been cut in nearly half, and some decacorns arrive literally overnight.

By the numbers: It took companies globally an average of 5.5 years to hit decacorn status in 2025, data from PitchBook shows.

• That's down from 9.4 years in 2020, and it's even faster than the 8-year average to hit unicorn status that year.

OpenAI's annualized revenue is $50 billion, about $20 billion less than previously reported figures, a discrepancy related to how different AI companies account for overall sales.

The big picture: The $70 billion figure, widely reported in September by Axios and other media outlets, was based on information shared with investors in an attempt to create a more direct comparison to rival Anthropic, Axios has learned.

• Anthropic includes revenue from cloud partner sales in its tally.

Zoom in: Both companies are GAAP compliant, but they account for revenue through partner sales differently.

• If a customer pays $100 for an AI service through a cloud provider, Anthropic's accounting method allows it to record the full $100 as top-line revenue, per Francine McKenna, accounting professor and author of the newsletter The Dig. The cloud provider's cut is then listed as an expense.
• OpenAI records only its share of certain partner sales.
• The difference comes down to how each company views its role in the transaction — including who controls the customer relationship and is responsible for delivering the product, according to McKenna.

Between the lines: The $70 billion ARR figure for OpenAI was an attempt to "gross up" its revenue number based on an interest from investors in having an apples-to-apples figure using Anthropic's methodology, sources said.

Reality check: Annualized revenue, when sales from a given period are projected out for a year, is a commonly used figure in Silicon Valley. But in public markets, investors will prefer actual revenue rather than financial constructs that are far more appropriate for early-stage startups.

What to watch: Anthropic has reportedly told investors it realized an operating profit in the second quarter, per the Financial Times, but those figures have excluded stock-based compensation.

• They also largely preceded an array of computing deals signed by the company that are set to cost hundreds of billions of dollars, according to The Information.
• Beware of claims about "profit" as well, at least until they come with the financial documents typical in an earnings release.

Vice President JD Vance announced a crackdown Thursday on the ability of Big Tech companies to sponsor workers seeking green cards to live and work in America.

Why it matters: The move blocks a path to permanent residency for affected workers but does not suspend the H-1B program, which allows skilled foreign workers to work temporarily in the U.S.

President Trump on Thursday called anyone who uses "Artificial Intelligence" instead of "Super Intelligence" "THE ENEMY!" — even as the White House continues using the term "AI."

Why it matters: Trump's push to rebrand AI as "super intelligence" clashes with established terminology in the technology industry.

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the Trump administration is suspending Microsoft, Adobe and several other IT firms' ability to hire foreign-born workers for permanent residency in the U.S.

Why it matters: The move will affect hundreds of companies owned by the tech giant, escalating the Trump administration's crackdown on immigrant labor.

SAN FRANCISCO — Balancing AI innovation with safety requires stronger oversight, targeted development and greater public education about the technology, business and policy leaders said at an Axios roundtable event.

Why it matters: As AI becomes more integrated into Americans' daily lives, businesses and government operations face growing pressure to address potential harms without stifling innovation.

Axios' Nathan Bomey moderated the Oct. 6 roundtable discussion. The event was sponsored by IBM.

5 big takeaways from the conversation:

1. Accepting an intolerable level of AI risk is "a false choice," said Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.), who warned that an expectation of "tolerance for bad things" could justify regulatory inaction.
2. Americans aren't sufficiently prepared for how AI is going to influence their lives, said aiEDU founder and CEO Alex Kotran. "If we don't figure that out … we're still going to have a crisis."
3. Feeding superintelligent models "everything and anything" may heighten runaway AI concerns, said Overlook Ventures founder and managing partner Amir Kabir. Developing more specialized models that stay in their own lane, such as voice or text tools, could help limit those risks.
4. Third-party audits can help enterprises maintain accountability to themselves and customers as they adopt agentic AI, said Workday vice president and chief privacy and digital trust officer Barbara Cosgrove.
5. America should mitigate "the most catastrophic risks" so that it can focus on AI's economic and political implications, which the country is "better" equipped to manage, said ID.me CEO Blake Hall.

McDonald's and Walmart are in defense mode over allegations about how they use AI and customer data to set prices.

Why it matters: Affordability and AI are two of the most politically sensitive issues facing companies right now.

• Combine them, and something as complicated as sophisticated pricing tools can become a reputational flashpoint.

Solid-state battery company QuantumScape on Thursday announced its first product for data centers.

Why it matters: It's a key moment in the firm's diversification beyond the automotive market and into AI, defense and other applications.

AI may have a woman problem — the latest evidence comes from a newly released survey from Morgan Stanley that finds women are far more negative about the new technology than men.

Why it matters: Women don't seem to be feeling the benefits of the AI boom, particularly in the job market, and the polling reveals that they're more concerned than men with safety risks and data center buildouts.