Nvidia delivered record revenue and profit in the third quarter, exceeding expectations as CEO Jensen Huang reported "off the charts" demand for its advanced Blackwell chips.
Why it matters: Nvidia is positioned in the center of the tech universe — and its earnings are closely watched as an indicator of health of the booming AI economy.
The next anti-Trump protest hitting Washington, D.C., will demand the president's impeachment and removal against a backdrop of live music and standup comedy.
Why it matters: This latest protest comes during a record-setting year for U.S. demonstrations amid growing discontent throughout the administration.
The White House is floating an executive order to override state AI laws by launching legal challenges and conditioning federal grants after President Trump publicly backed a federal regulation standard, per a copy of the draft seen by Axios.
Why it matters: It would mark a sharp escalation in the administration's bid to centralize and accelerate U.S. AI policy.
Larry Summers has worn many hats in public life: President Clinton's treasury secretary, OpenAI board member, Harvard president and economic advisor. But those roles are now overshadowed by the revelations that he kept in touch with Jeffrey Epstein until a day before the convicted sex offender's 2019 arrest.
Why it matters: Summers is the latest figure caught in the bipartisan push for transparency around Epstein's ties to powerful people.
Key White House officials are pressing lawmakers on Capitol Hill to keep AI chip export restrictions to China out of the annual defense policy bill, four sources familiar with the matter told Axios.
Why it matters: Nvidia would win big if the GAIN AI Act doesn't make it into the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act.
OpenAI is pushing further into schools with a new ChatGPT designed for K-12 teachers.
Why it matters: ChatGPT's launch three years ago sparked a war over cheating in schools, and now OpenAI hopes to woo teachers on the front lines with its tools.
President Trump may soon sign the Epstein files bill into law — but don't expect his administration to actually release documents quickly.
The big picture: The bill's loopholes for "active investigations" and "national security" give Trump officials broad cover to delay or heavily redact documents.
Amazon has started disbursing automatic refunds from its $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, the agency has confirmed.
The big picture: $1.5 billion of that money — which settles allegations that the company enrolled its customers in Prime subscriptions without their consent — is going directly to Prime subscribers, capped at $51 a person.
Companies will meet Thursday with an administration official to discuss President Trump's AI exports program, according to an invite seen by Axios.
Why it matters: The program — which promises to give companies exporting tech governmental incentives and other benefits — faces key questions after some industry players criticized its rollout.
Harvard launched a probe into the ties between Jeffrey Epstein and Larry Summers, the ex-Treasury secretary and former university president, multipleoutletsreported.
Why it matters: The Epstein fallout continues to hit Summers, whose association with the convicted sex offender received widespread attention after their email correspondence was released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee.
LAS VEGAS — AI energy needs will accelerate commercial fusion power by "two or three decades," said Rob Roy, founder and CEO of data center heavyweight Switch.
Why it matters: Tech and data center heavyweights are helping fund and signing power deals with fusion startups, in addition to other nuclear agreements.
Former Treasury secretary and Harvard president Larry Summers has resigned from the OpenAI board, he and the company told Axios in separate statements Wednesday, amid new revelations about the depths of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
The big picture: The Epstein fallout continues to balloon, now coming for Summers, once one of the nation's pre-eminent economists.
Target will let shoppers browse and buy products directly in ChatGPT, becoming one of the first major retailers to turn the AI chatbot into a shopping platform, the company said Wednesday.
Why it matters: The launch marks another step in the rise of "agentic commerce," where AI anticipates what shoppers need — and checks out on their behalf.
Embraer is now marketing the A-29 Super Tucano as a drone killer, equipped with sensors, laser-guided rockets and .50 caliber machine guns.
The big picture: The drone-counter-drone dynamic is producing novel technologies and tactics; in Eastern Europe — a hot spot — everything from prop planes to AI-empowered turrets to helicopter door-gunners are fair game.
Method Security, a dual-use company combining cyber expertise with artificial intelligence speed, raised $26 million across its seed round and Series A.
Why it matters: Much national-security energy today is paid to drone-and-missile stockpiles, shipbuilding and the like. But digital breaches — something like China's Volt Typhoon, which jeopardized critical infrastructure — could upend it all.
A tech-friendly group, the AI Infrastructure Coalition, will launch Wednesday evening with a reception near the White House, to advocate for "every layer of the AI tech stack — from semiconductor manufacturers and energy providers to hyperscalers, data-center operators, private equity, and AI model developers."
Why it matters: AIIC, which debuts as data centers are becoming a flashpoint nationwide, tells Axios the group will push for President Trump's AI Action Plan and push back on increased scrutiny of the industry.
AI is far too transformative for society — and disruptive to legacy industries — to fixate on a near-term bubble, some of the world's top private investors said at Axios BFD on Tuesday.
The big picture: Financial markets may be nervous now. But the people who invest billions for the long term believe in what they're seeing.
"I was in Silicon Valley in '98, '99. I saw what happened with the dotcom era. I saw what happened with mobile, saw what happened with cloud computing. This surpasses all of them and more," said Sequoia Capital partner Roelof Botha, one of the world's top venture capitalists.
"You have so many industries that are relatively ossified and ripe for disruption," Botha said. "And AI isn't just a new distribution mechanism or a new interface. It is fundamentally a set of capabilities that can upend industries."
Case in point: Creatives fear the impact AI could have on entertainment and the arts, but those who are using it right now to change businesses say rejecting it isn't the answer.
"The reality is, the world's not going to stop and AI is coming, so you have a choice, you could put your head in the sand or you can embrace it," said Gerry Cardinale, managing partner of RedBird Capital Partners, which helped finance the Skydance acquisition of Paramount.
"I don't think AI is going to replace Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. I just don't think that's happening. And, and similarly it's not gonna replace Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. However, it has to be harnessed."
Reality check: Even those deepest in AI and the world of large language models (LLM) concede that there could be some froth, as Google CEO Sundar Pichai did when he told the BBC Tuesday there was some "irrationality" in the market.
"I think we're in an LLM bubble, and I think the LLM bubble might be bursting next year," said Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue, whose company helps people build models for AI.
But even so, Delangue said, LLMs are "just a subset of AI" when it comes to broader applications across science, technology and media.
The bottom line: "'The bubble' is a pejorative term," Sequoia's Botha said.
In the long run, he said, it's the fundamental change to the way so many industries operate that matters.
