OpenAI said on Wednesday that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek's open-source models may have "inappropriately" based its work on the output of OpenAI's models, an OpenAI spokesperson told Axios.
Why it matters: China's DeepSeek has taken the AI industry by storm with its R1 reasoning model that competes with OpenAI's o1, but at what the company says is a fraction of the cost and with fewer resources.
For a man who's courted so much controversy, whose first name became a conservative chorus on X and whose nomination prompted questions of "Who?!" at happy hours, Pete Hegseth's public views on China, Russia and defense tech are pretty standard.
The big picture: President Trump is disruptor in chief. His picks for key posts are unorthodox; his flurry of fiats, some targeting U.S. troops, are catching backlash.
Some Native American tribes say tribal members are being harassed by federal immigration agents, while others fear they could be wrongly caught up in immigration raids.
Why it matters: The angst among some Indigenous tribes reflects the confusion and fear even among legal citizens during the Trump administration's immigration raids.
As President Trump pushes for Greenland to join the U.S., a new poll finds 85% of the semi-autonomous Danish territory's residents oppose the move.
Why it matters: Trump has stepped up his push for Greenland since he won November's election despite the territory's leader and Denmark's prime minister saying it's not for sale and told reporters Saturday he thinks the U.S. is "going to have" the Arctic island, claiming its 57,000 residents "want to be with us."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is revoking Gen. Mark Milley's personal security detail and clearance — and the former Joint Chiefs of Staff chair faces a review that could result in a rank demotion, the Pentagon announced Tuesday night.
For Lunar New Year, many people in Asia and around the world are eating foods that look like money, sound like good fortune and represent wholeness.
Why it matters: "The Chinese believe that you have to have a really positive attitude going into the new year," says Grace Young, a cookbook author, culinary historian and activist who works to preserve America's Chinatowns.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at her first press briefing that the National Security Council was "looking into" the potential security implications of AI breakthroughs from China's DeepSeek, which have rocked Silicon Valley and Wall Street this week.
Why it matters: DeepSeek's low-cost but highly advanced models have shaken the consensus that the U.S. had a strong lead in the AI race with China. Responding to a question from Axios' Mike Allen, Leavitt said President Trump saw this as a "wake-up call" for the U.S. AI industry, but remained confident "we'll restore American dominance."
The U.S. military transferred around 90 Patriot air defense interceptors from storage in Israel to Poland this week in order to deliver them to Ukraine, three sources with knowledge of the operation tell Axios.
Why it matters: Getting more Patriot missiles to Ukraine has been a top priority for the Pentagon to help Kyiv defend against Russia's attacks on its critical infrastructure.
Southern California continues to reel from the devastating wildfires that ripped through Los Angeles County earlier this month, prompting questions about whether it will be ready to host the 2028 Olympics as planned.
Why it matters: It could take several years for the Los Angeles area to recover from the blazes, creating a potential clash of timing and resources needed to prepare for the Games.
President Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met on Tuesday in Riyadh with a senior adviser to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting.
Why it matters: This was the first meeting between a Trump administration official and a Palestinian official since November's election.
Silicon Valley's overnight obsession with DeepSeek has renewed questions about whether it's safe for U.S. companies to even interact with China-linked technology.
Why it matters: Security concerns alone are enough for the biggest U.S. companies to pump the brakes on using DeepSeek's models right now.
President Trump yesterday said that Microsoft is among those in talks to acquire TikTok, or at least enough of TikTok that it would be allowed to continue operating in the U.S.
Why it matters: This new divestiture dance is beginning to feel like an imitation of what we saw five years ago.
President Trump has been threatening friend and foe alike with the foreign policy equivalent of a two-by-four. Colombia's president found that out the hard way over the weekend when he tried to stop U.S. military flights carrying deportees back to Colombia.
"F--k around and find out," one top White House official summed up Monday.
Why it matters: Trump's world view revolves around showing strength, a carrot-and-stick approach that usually is short on rewards and long on threats. But it's showing some results — at least in Latin America, where Trump is determined to boost U.S. influence.
A coalition of U.S. and Canadian Jewish groups say they will leave X, the social media formerly known as Twitter, after seeing a rise in "toxic speech" on the platform and owner Elon Musk reposting antisemitic and xenophobic content.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Monday called Chinese AI startup DeepSeek's R1 an "impressive model" and pledged his company would "deliver much better models" in the future.
ICE announced Monday a multi-agency immigration clampdown resulted in 1,179 arrests in a single day — the biggest number since President Trump took office a week ago.
Why it matters: The Trump administration is stepping up efforts targeting undocumented immigrants in cities across the U.S. — and it's resulted in at least 3,552 arrests since Thursday, per figures posted to Immigration and Customs Enforcement's X account.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and President Trump appeared to take different stances Monday on China's artificial intelligence developments.
Why it matters: Interest in Chinese company DeepSeek's rapid advancements in AI sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling on Monday, as the mobile app climbed to no.1 on Apple's rankings of free iPhone apps.
