Elon Musk said Monday DOGE's staff are "pretty much" in every government department and he's looking to roughly double the number on the cost-cutting team he's the face of.
Why it matters: The Trump administration's DOGE-driven mass firings of federal workers have faced multiple legal challenges and resistance from some Republican lawmakers who are facing the impacts the department's cuts will have on their constituents and states.
Not many people can laugh off losing $16 billion in a day — but then again, it's different when it comes to Elon Musk,
Why it matters: The world's richest man seemed unfazed about the 15% decline in Tesla's stock Monday, a plunge that led the worst market day of the year.
What they're saying: Confronted with a litany of recent bad news headlines in a Fox Business interview, Musk shrugged it off with a chuckle: "But look on the bright side! Always look on the bright side of life!"
Monty Python fans will, of course, recall the reference to the closing song of "Life of Brian."
Catch up quick: It's been a tough few days for Musk.
Last Thursday, SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded minutes after launch from Texas, the second such mishap this year.
Friday, the New York Times reported President Trump was moving toward limiting Musk's previously free-ranging power after outrage from top Republicans.
On Saturday, the "Tesla Takedown" movement fanned out nationwide at the company's showrooms, including in Manhattan, where hundreds protested.
On Monday, Tesla shares plunged, leaving the company the worst-performing stock on the S&P 500 this year.
Meanwhile, his social media platform X also went down Monday due to a purported cyberattack.
The intrigue: Musk pointed to foreign actors in the X outage.
"We're not sure exactly what happened but there was a massive cyberattack to try to bring down the X system, with IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area," Musk said.
Asked how he was running all of his other businesses while also dealing with DOGE's slash-and-burn government restructuring, Musk paused and said "with great difficulty."
Tens of thousands of X users reported outages throughout Monday, as a "massive cyberattack" targets the platform, owner Elon Musk said.
Why it matters: The app formerly known as Twitter has experienced several widespread outages since Musk took over in 2022. Other competitors have founded apps as the social media landscape has become more partisan and polarized.
ServiceNow on Monday announced an agreement to buy Moveworks, a Silicon Vallry provider of enterprise employee AI assistants, for $2.85 billion in cash and stock.
Why it matters: This is the largest acquisition ever by ServiceNow, a $175 billion company that's spending big to keep pace in the AI age.
In another sign of congressional pushback on cuts to NOAA, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) asked the Commerce Department for detailed information on how the top federal weather, climate and oceans agency has been affected.
Why it matters: The letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — provided first to Axios — puts pressure on the department to defend the layoffs' legality based on existing laws and recent court rulings.
The Federal Trade Commission under President Trump is making its first move to challenge private equity in health care, by suing to block the $627 million acquisition of a maker of specialized coatings for catheters and other medical devices.
Why it matters: It's the first such FTC action around M&A since Trump was sworn in and could signal continued regulatory scrutiny as private equity buys more health care firms.
Anyone who thinks President Trump's mesmerizing hold over the GOP will slip if his poll numbers slide is missing one of his biggest innovations in American politics:
The creation of a cash-flush political operation that hasraked in around a half-billion dollars — about the same amount the GOP's House and Senate campaign arms spent during the entirety of the last midterm campaign.
A former U.S. Senate staffer is launching an AI startup aimed at helping government offices streamline their work, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Government agencies have been increasingly looking to AI to help tackle thorny administrative problems that have saddled the public sector with a reputation as low-tech and sluggish.
The tech industry is throwing its weight behind science and tech work in government in response to the rollercoaster of federal employee firings and rehirings and the specter of more job and budget cuts.
Why it matters: Chaos at federal agencies is taking a toll on universities and could impactthe private sector — the government's key partners in pushing forward AI and other new technologies.
Just days after its announcement, a new AI agent named Manus is winning expert acclaim while stoking concern over another AI advance rooted in Chinese research and development.
Driving the news:Manus AI, named after the Latin word for hand, is billed as "a general AI agent that turns your thoughts into actions."
