For 20 minutes on CNBC Wednesday, Palantir CEO Alex Karp unloaded on frontier AI labs, arguing they've become so obsessed with building ever-more-powerful models that they're failing their biggest enterprise customers.
The big picture: Karp put his finger on a trend: U.S. companies are increasingly turning to cheaper Chinese AI models just as the Trump administration is blocking access to some of the best American AI tools — a double whammy for domestic AI labs.
OpenAI may give the U.S. government a 5% stake in the company, per the Financial Times. The proposal is in very preliminary conversations, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Why it matters: If the overture is taken up by the Trump administration, that would mean the government would have a vested interest in weighing whether or not to limit the release of an OpenAI model.
Medicare is launching a pilot program that tests whether health tech companies — including those that heavily rely on AI — can lower medical costs while improving care.
Why it matters: We've discussed why many experts think AI will actually increase health care costs in the near term in part by generating more health care and making spending levels even more unsustainable.
The Federal Trade Commission is now under stronger presidential control — with no more opportunity for partisan dissent — following the Supreme Court's decision that President Trump can fire its members.
Why it matters: Any realistic chance the agency in charge of consumer protection, kids' online safety, tech competition and fighting deceptive and unfair practices will have any Democrats during this administration is effectively gone.
ASPEN, Colo. — Colorado's Democratic governor, Jared Polis, defended data centers, touted oil and gas rules and bemoaned climate change in a recent interview in this mountain town.
Why it matters: Colorado has long been a microcosm of the nation's debates on energy, AI and the effects of a warming planet.
Anthropic's Fable 5 model came back online for users on Wednesday, after the Trump administration lifted an export control late Tuesday.
Why it matters: It's the most powerful publicly available AI tool — so capable that the U.S. government decided Anthropic had to add further safety measures in order to make it broadly available.
Meta shares soared nearly 9% Wednesday on a report that the company is wading into the business of selling cloud computing services and access to AI models.
Why it matters: The booming AI economy has triggered insatiable demand for data processing power, enriching the likes of Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
Amazon's greenhouse gas emissions rose sharply last year as the company raced to expand AI infrastructure.
Why it matters: Amazon's annual environmental report, released a day after Google's report unveiled similar increases, adds to mounting evidence that AI growth is making it harder fortech giants to maintain climate ambition.
Sandeep Bhanote, global head and GM of GrowthX at DXC, joined Axios publisher Nicholas Johnston for a View from the Top conversation. The two discussed today's banking landscape, DXC's new platform, DXC CoreIgnite, and how AI will continue to impact the banking industry in the future.
Bending Spoons, an Italian holding company that buys and seeks to revitalize digital businesses, raised $1.7 billion in its IPO and will list Wednesday on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol "BSP."
Why it matters: AOL is part of a public company again. So is Eventbrite. And Vimeo. And a bunch of other legacy tech brands.
Semiconductor stocks have been enjoying their greatest rally ever.
Why it matters: It's another proofpoint driving investors and analysts alike to an inescapable conclusion: The AI build-out is almost certainly the biggest investment boom in American history.
The U.S. Air Force is on the hunt for a new "Long Range Weapon" capable of blasting targets in the air and on the surface from at least 1,000 nautical miles out.
Why it matters: That's quite far — dwarfing the reach of contemporary munitions.
Such an ask suggests applications in the Indo-Pacific, where vast stretches of water separate small islands, supply hubs, airstrips and armadas.
Dominion Dynamics raised $100 million and plans to use the money to mature its command-and-control suite, AuraNet, as well as its robo-wingman, Scout.
Why it matters: The startup, based in Ottawa and founded by former Anduril Industries executive Eliot Pence, is billing the Series A as the largest "in the history of Canadian defense."
A new UN-backed commission will bring top tech executives and heads of state to the same table to forge global solutions for AI, per an announcement shared exclusively with Axios.
Why it matters: As global AI regulation grows more splintered, this initiative is an attempt to connect the executives building advanced AI with a group of global politicians.
Why it matters: What was once a private gesture between partners or parents is becoming a paid service — a sign of how many Americans are seeking human touch and connection amid growing loneliness and isolation.
The Trump administration lifted export controls on Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 AI model Tuesday evening, with access returning to customers Wednesday, Anthropic said.
Why it matters: The move, eagerly awaited by AI developers, restores public access to the company's powerful Mythos-class model that had been pulled for security reasons 18 days ago.
