California's attorney general on Friday sent a cease and desist letter to xAI, demanding the company immediately halt the creation and distribution of fake sexualized images of children.
Why it matters:Lawmakers and regulators have raised legal concerns over xAi's editing features, which allow users to create nonconsensual, intimate images and child sexual abuse material (CSAM), including explicit images or videos of minors.
Top MAGA influencers, including Laura Loomer and David Sacks, are picking a public fight with a key GOP lawmaker over who should regulate the sale of AI chips to China.
Why it matters: Legislation from House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.) isn't even out of committee. But the accusations are flying fast.
President Trump is trying to solve a political dilemma with his push for tech companies to fund new power plants: The White House is all-in on AI, but Republicans face blowback as utility bills rise.
Why it matters: Rising consumer electricity costs — which have no single cause — and the need for more power generation are both threats to the AI boom.
The Trump administration's "energy dominance" council and a bipartisan group of governors unveiled a plan on Friday to address rising prices in the nation's largest power grid.
Why it matters: It's the latest sign that the administration is taking seriously the voter angst over skyrocketing electricity bills due in part to huge demand from AI-driven data centers.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright is looking to secure oil and critical minerals deals with Venezuela in the next few weeks ahead of a trip to Caracas, he said in a Friday interview with Axios.
Why it matters: The deals could give the U.S. exclusive access to key resources while helping finance the reconstruction of Venezuela's ailing economy.
Google has tapped Sen. Todd Young's (R-Ind.) chief of staff John Connell to lead government affairs and public policy for the U.S. and Canada, the company told Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: Google snagged another high-level Capitol Hill Republican to be its top lobbyist at a time when tech and AI companies have a more positive — yet tenuous — relationship with the government than in the recent past, thanks to the AI boom and Trump's embrace of the technology.
Walmart shuffled its executive ranks Friday ahead of incoming CEO John Furner's start next month, promoting leaders with a focus on AI and the growing business of agentic commerce.
Why it matters: The world's largest retailer is all-in on artificial intelligence and the new era of shopping, and the executive changes are a sign that Furner intends to continue growing there aggressively.
AI feels like magic — largely because most of us don't understand how it really works.
Why it matters: This story will radically break down the process so this technology — which is becoming as commonplace as the Internet — feels more real and less magical.
Natural gas is filling the biggest role fueling electricity for data centers in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest — the country's AI hotbed — but the region is still staring down a huge shortfall in power.
Why it matters: Society faces the risk of spiking power prices or — worse — no power at all if this gap isn't resolved by either adding more power or fewer data centers.
The AI buildout is turning into a profit engine for the big banks, as the tech giants tap Wall Street to finance enormous capital spending and AI-fueled stock gains lift trading revenues.
Why it matters: Banks are cashing in on the AI boom across debt underwriting, advisory and trading — while largely distancing themselves from concerns that the rally could be forming a bubble.
The world is on the cusp of a generation-defining construction boom, but the U.S. may not have enough workers to make it happen, BlackRock warns in a new paper first seen by Axios.
Why it matters: This is the new fault line of the global economy — soaring demand for some workers and shrinking appetite for others. It could result in widening financial gaps in the coming years.
This might be our first AI race, but it's not America's first power boom.
Why it matters: The latest boomin power is scrambling our communities, politics and power bills, with Big Tech companies making promises seeking to ease said scramble.
AI's energy demands are creating strange bedfellows as Democrats and Republicans sound increasingly alike ahead of the midterms and 2028.
Why it matters: Political fault lines around AI are still fluid, and candidates from both parties are scrambling to tap into a winning position centered on affordability.
Workers making under $50,000 annually are worried that AI will undermine their job security and make economic mobility more difficult, according to a poll from HarrisX and Merit America shared exclusively with Axios.
Why it matters: The calls for upskilling and job retraining in the age of AI are louder than ever, with the technology making workers of all income brackets across the country anxious.
Why it matters: The PR giant's massive annual survey suggests the global trust crisis has crossed a new threshold. Worldwide, people no longer accept the same sources, authorities or even the validity of the act of disagreement itself.
