Axios

MAGA members have not only dismissed President Trump's stream of AI-generated videos, they're also starting to release their own, in the name of parody and harmless fun.

Why it matters: As the Trump administration continues to pursue a social media strategy filled with memes, AI-videos and posts meant to troll the left, Republicans continue to blur the lines between what is satire-filled parody and what critics say is problematic misinformation.

In a conversation with Axios Publisher Nick Johnston, Meta's chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan outlined what's at stake as the U.S. faces off with China in the global race for AI dominance. From compute access to pro-innovation policy, Kaplan emphasized that the U.S. must move faster to maintain its edge — and that policymakers' urgency may be the key to winning.

Musician Kenny Loggins demanded that President Trump remove his song from an AI-generated video of the president dumping feces from a fighter jet on protesters at No Kings events.

Why it matters: The Trump administration's "ask for forgiveness, not permission" approach to using creators' copyrighted work has repeatedly drawn pushback as the administration leans heavily into a social media campaign filled with AI imagery.

The sun is rising on a recovering internet after an Amazon Web Services outage Monday took big-name services offline, like Duolingo, Roblox and Coinbase.

The big picture: The widespread outage demonstrated just how much of the internet depends on Amazon's cloud platform.

China's dominance in batteries shows just how much the Asia powerhouse is beating the U.S. on key tech fronts.

Why it matters: This positions China to be the geopolitical winner as the world transitions (unevenly) to cleaner energy.

President Trump and the federal government are policing speech, morality, and punishment of individual citizens at a level of micromanagement rarely, if ever, witnessed in America.

Why it matters: We've written extensively about the unprecedented new powers seized or granted to Trump and future presidents in the past eight months alone.

• But few throw America deeper into new, uncharted waters than making presidents and the executive branch the judge, jury and executioner of words and behavior.

Call it the war on poker — professional players and amateurs alike are coming under siege from Uncle Sam, YouTube and state regulators.

Why it matters: Poker players say policies and crackdowns aimed at gambling are threatening livelihoods, driving fans offline, and reshaping how millions of people watch and play.

Uber's new "digital tasks" program lets drivers get paid for small jobs that help train AI models when they're not driving.

Why it matters: As driverless robotaxis begin to fill streets in scattered cities across the U.S., Uber is enlisting its gig workforce to help train the technology that could replace them.

President Trump on Saturday evening shared a seemingly AI-generated video of him dumping brown sludge on protesters while wearing a crown and flying a jet labeled "KING TRUMP."

The big picture: He shared the video the same day that "No Kings" rallies saw nearly seven million people gather in all 50 states to reject the president's agenda.

Resistance to AI is bubbling up among some workers, students, coders and creatives.

• Some are placing new value on work that's untouched by AI.

Why it matters: The pace at which AI takes off depends in part on its users — and there's a cohort that's just saying no.

Formula One teams are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to convert terabytes of data into winning decisions.

Why it matters: In a data-driven sport with big name sponsors and stiff competition, F1 teams need AI to succeed now and prepare for big changes the future.