Canadian AI model company Cohere is combining with Germany's Aleph Alpha, in a deal that Axios has learned will value it around $20 billion after a concurrent Series E closes.
Why it's the BFD: Cohere is leaning into Europe's digital sovereignty movement as it seeks to fend off Anthropic and OpenAI.
Economists and analysts say that AI in the long term will make the economy more productive — we'll get more done in less time, and that might even keep inflation in check.
Why it matters: It's a long complicated road to get to that fairy-tale ending. In the short term, AI is actually increasing inflation modestly at a time of more urgent inflationary pressures like war.
Meta on Friday announced a deal to use Amazon-designed chips to help deliver its next generation of AI models.
Why it matters: The move comes as the leading cloud providers, including Amazon, aim to increase adoption of their homegrown chips amid an industrywide shortage of Nvidia graphics chips.
The Vatican is racing to build digital defenses for the artificial intelligence era — and quietly positioning itself as a global referee of what's real.
Why it matters: The Holy See is moving faster than most other legacy institutions to shape rules and guardrails in verifying reality, with urgency that's unfolding amid unusual geopolitical and digital clashes.
The digital detox movement is gaining popularity, driven by grassroots efforts to limit screen time and a broader push among Gen Zers to switch off their phones.
The big picture: Phone-free bars, restaurants and entertainment experiences are on the rise while cellphone pouches are becoming an essential item at schools, weddings, proms and retreats, and search interest in apps that keep you off your phone skyrocketed.
Key deadlines set out in President Trump's executive order targeting state AI laws have passed, with agencies failing to deliver on major steps that were due more than a month ago.
Why it matters: The missed deadlines are raising doubts about how forcefully the administration can follow through on its push to rein in states on AI regulation.
A U.S. special forces soldier was arrested and charged with using classified information about the raid to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to profit from prediction market bets, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.
Why it matters: The case lands as regulators and lawmakers intensify scrutiny of prediction markets — offering a real-world test of how aggressively authorities pursue insider trading tied to sensitive government information.
This is the first time the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has filed charges of insider trading in connection with event contracts, per a CFTC statement.
The world's population is on track to reach 9 billion by 2050. At the same time, global consumption patterns are shifting, with growing demand for protein-rich diets in many regions and greater transparency in developed markets.
Now more than ever, the world is asking U.S. farmers to produce more while using fewer resources.
Meta told staff Thursday it plans to lay off roughly 8,000 people, or around 10% of the company, two sources confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: The cuts underscore how soaring AI costs are pressuring even the biggest tech companies to cut jobs to protect margins and reassure investors.
The Trump administration on Thursday accused China-backed actors of running "deliberate, industrial-scale campaigns" to distill and copy American frontier AI models.
Why it matters: The accusation pushes the U.S.-China AI rivalry into more confrontational territory — and could complicate President Trump's upcoming visit to Beijing.
The AI economy is being constrained by the physical world: The Iran war threatens to squeeze the industrial inputs that chip manufacturers depend on, the latest confirmation that once-reliable global chokepoints are now more fragile than ever.
Why it matters: It is part of a growing pattern defining the economic conditions of the 2020s: shocks exposing the fragility of supply chains that the world took for granted.
AI is no longer just a research tool in Washington, D.C. — it's starting to shape how policymakers form opinions, according to Penta Group data shared exclusively with Axios.
Why it matters: Policymakers are the latest to lean on AI for guidance, signaling its growing role in shaping decisions across markets,consumer behavior and now public policy.
Get on the AI train or get left behind. That messaging from frontier labs about the world-changing nature of AI suggests they're not focused on addressing consumer backlash to the technology.
Why it matters: They may regret that approach when they go public and have to work overtime to turn AI haters into customers.
Anthropic is hitting turbulence at a critical moment, with a cascade of challengesconverging ahead of a potential IPO that could value the company near $800 billion.
Why it matters: The AI darling, whose revenue has tripled to $30 billion this year on the back of its wildly popular coding tools, has never been more valuable or more vulnerable.
My note to my kids about AI went viral with many parents. I touched on the note this week while taping an NPR segment — the topic clearly hit a nerve.
I asked lots of people why. Put simply, parents don't know what to say — and kids don't know where else to turn — with so much changing so fast. So here's another look at AI and beyond.
Hey kid, we gotta talk.
I want to be blunt — and insanely useful — in helping you navigate the uncertainty, fast change and new opportunity of the current moment. It's bolded because it's so easy to lose hold of hope and action, a dynamic duo. Don't. Ever.
