Axios

The Department of Homeland Security offered employees the choice between deferred resignation, early retirement or an immediate buyout, according to an email obtained by Axios Monday evening.

Why it matters: The email from Secretary Kristi Noem is part of a broader push to drastically reduce headcount across the federal government, including at the nation's top cyber defense agency.

Fintech giant Klarna has put its IPO plans on ice, due to President Trump's trade war. And then so did Chime, eToro, MNTN, and StubHub.

Why it matters: This is the sum of all fears for venture capitalists.

The most stunning part of the CaaStle fraud allegations isn't that a huckster CEO burned through $530 million, or that she appears to have forged years of financial disclosures. It's that the company's board let her stay in charge after finding out — and took months to warn investors.

• What follows is based on research and conversations with numerous sources:

The whistleblower: Late last year, Jed Lenzner got some numbers from CaaStle that raised his eyebrows. So he eventually rang up the listed auditor, BDO.

The U.S. is still the global leader in state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, but China has closed the gap considerably, according to a new report from Stanford.

Why it matters: Many leaders in Silicon Valley and D.C., including in the Trump administration, say winning this AI competition is critical to the future of U.S. national security.

The AI chatbots we invited into our long-running Axios AI+ women's bracket challenge this year were no match for most of the competitors among Axios readers and staff.

State of play: Not only did the AI chatbots have trouble filling out their March Madness brackets, they ended up finishing below most of the human pickers, at least for the women's tournament, which wrapped up Sunday.