Old equipment and years of mergers and acquisitions are likely impeding the ability of telecommunications providers to toss Beijing out of their networks.
Why it matters: Until telecom networks fully secure their networks, China will keep finding ways to come back in, officials have warned.
Retired Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, the former head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, is joining the board of WitnessAI.
Why it matters: This is now the second AI company board that Nakasone has joined since leaving his government role in February. In June, he also joined OpenAI's board.
President-elect Trump on Friday defended his embattled Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth as his path to Senate confirmation appears in jeopardy.
Why it matters: Trump had remained conspicuously silent over the past few weeks as his Pentagon pick became embroiled in mounting scandals that threatened to tank his nomination.
President-elect Trump has assembled an administration of unprecedented, mind-boggling wealth — smashing his own first-term record by billions of dollars.
That's even without counting the ballooning fortunes of his prized outside adviser and the world's richest man: Elon Musk.
Why it matters: It's not hyperbole to call this a government of billionaires. Whether it acts as a government for billionaires — as Democrats argue is inevitable — could test and potentially tarnish Trump's populist legacy.
President-elect Trump's choice of David Sacks as his "White House AI & Crypto Czar" will put a controversial Silicon Valley veteran, ally of Elon Musk and popular podcaster in charge of the White House's emerging-tech policy.
Why it matters: For years, the tech industry's conservative-libertarian wing has complained that Washington's leaders and culture stifle innovation. Now it will be their turn to call the shots.
Elon Musk bank-rolled a PAC that sought to link the now-President elect Trump's views on abortion with those of the late liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, according to new campaign filings.
The big picture: Musk, who will co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the incoming adminstration, spent more than $250 million in total in donations to Trump's presidential campaign, per the New York Times.
OpenAI is bringing the o1 reasoning model series out of preview in ChatGPT and is launching a new pro tier, a $200 a month plan for unlimited access to o1, GPT-4o, and Advanced Voice mode.
Why it matters: The announcement comes after ChatGPT's two-year anniversary as OpenAI aims to advance human-like reasoning tasks and bolster revenue.
A federal judge on Thursday rejected Boeing's plea deal over a criminal fraud charge stemming from two fatal 737 crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Why it matters: The plane crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed a total of 346 people and ignited scrutiny about quality control and safety at Boeing — concerns that have only become starker in recent years.
Elon Musk overwhelmingly tops a list of the most read-about businesspeople of the year, according to data from Taboola shared exclusively with Axios.
Why it matters: It's little surprise given the way Musk has come to dominate industry, the media and politics — but the magnitude of the gap between him and anyone else is still eye-popping.
Project Liberty, founded by billionaire Frank McCourt, has pulled together participants for a consortium of investors interested in pursuing a "peoples bid" for TikTok, McCourt told Axios.
Why it matters: A U.S. court has until January 19 to decide whether TikTok should be banned if it does not find a U.S. buyer.
Palantir, a 21-year-old technology company that's been public for four years, is suddenly being valued as though it's a fast-growing startup.
Why it matters: Palantir's most recent earnings report came out the day before Donald Trump won the presidency. The two events have helped to propel the stock to record highs.
The big picture: Spotify has been making investments in AI as it anticipates its first full profitable year yet, a testament to its cost-cutting efforts, which has included layoffs, and its push to grow paid memberships.
