Law enforcement agencies around the world have arrested two people and seized the web infrastructure tied to two of the world's biggest cybercrime forums where hackers sold stolen passwords and hacking tools,the Justice Department said in a press release today.
Why it matters: Dismantling these online hubs deals a serious blow to malicious hackers who rely on forums to turn a profit from their crimes.
President Trump on Wednesdaysettled a lawsuit that will require Meta to pay about $25 million, most of which will fund a presidential library,multipleoutletsreported and a source familiar confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: Meta shut down Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts for about two yearsafter the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. However, since Trump's reelection, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has cozied up to the new administration.
OpenAI said on Wednesday that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek's open-source models may have "inappropriately" based its work on the output of OpenAI's models, an OpenAI spokesperson told Axios.
Why it matters: China's DeepSeek has taken the AI industry by storm with its R1 reasoning model that competes with OpenAI's o1, but at what the company says is a fraction of the cost and with fewer resources.
Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, announced a plan to expand into financial services — including customized investment vehicles geared toward conservatives.
Why it matters: Shares in TMTG, which is majority owned by President Trump, jumped more than 11% Wednesday on the news.
The extended energy universe is grappling with what Chinese AI startup DeepSeek's remarkable efficiency claims mean for data center power demand.
The big picture: Morgan Stanley analysts, in a note, see an "over-reaction among US stocks with exposure to AI growth" after share prices of several energy companies fell sharply.
Investors in energy stocks panicked this week over the release of a new, cheaper AI model, ignoring an argument that reducing the energy needs of such models could actually increase demand for energy overall.
Why it matters: The news could end up being bullish for those stocks, which lost more than $40 billion in value on Monday.
The USS Zumwalt, long a punching bag, will shape "an evolving hypersonic weapons road map" inside the U.S. Navy, according to Rear Adm. Bill Daly, the director of surface warfare.
The big picture: The stealthy destroyer splashed back into the water after a retrofit that gave it four missile tubes to hold the Conventional Prompt Strike weapon.
What do defense contractors, tech companies, investors and LinkedIn try-hards all have in common? They know President Trump is going to shock the Pentagon, and they are trying to get their foot in the door.
Why it matters: There's a post-inauguration wave to ride. It's now American maximalism — build, baby, build! — and the returning commander in chief is the spark plug.
![Screenshot of a law enforcement takedown notice placed on the Notion[.]to cybercrime hacker forum.](https://images.axios.com/VrUSxUBsnIhmz44MjVv3AqlnViM=/0x0:1920x1080/1920x1080/2025/01/29/1738186323644.png?w=3840)
