Axios News

The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, Adm. Brad Cooper, recommended stopping the bombing campaign around the Strait of Hormuz because it has reached the limit of its effectiveness, according to two sources with knowledge of his position. Why it matters: The recommendation by Cooper, the commander of the U.S. Military Central Command (CENTCOM), together with other advisers impacted President Trump's decision on Friday to pause U.S. strikes against Iran, the sources said. It was an a

President Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Tuesday, a White House official confirmed to Axios.The big picture: The visit gives Zelensky a chance to shore up support in Washington after the death of one of Ukraine's congressional champions.It also comes as Russia intensifies its missile campaign.Trump and Zelensky last met earlier this month at the NATO summit in Turkey, where they discussed strengthening Ukraine's air defenses and diplomatic efforts to

Data: The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. Map: Erin Davis/Axios VisualsThe midterm elections are 100 days out. Political reporter Hans Nichols, lead author of the Hill Leaders newsletter, shares his intel on the state of the races:The big picture: The House environment favors the Dems. The terrain favors Republicans. The same is broadly true on the Senate side — except the structural advantages are even greater for Republicans.THE HOUSE — currently 218 Rs, 212 Ds, 1 independent, and 4 vac

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman heads to Washington this week to preview the company's most powerful AI yet, pushing for speedy approval of a model that just hacked a real company.Why it matters: He'll tout a model powerful enough to solve an 80-year-old math problem, breach another company's system unprompted and begin to make complex work more cost-efficient for U.S. business.What Sam will show:It does original science. An internal model solved the 80-year-old Erdős unit distance problem, the first prom

With Congress on the sidelines, union contracts are among the strongest guardrails American workers have against artificial intelligence.Why it matters: Nearly 90% of the U.S. workforce lacks union representation, leaving about 130 million workers without that leverage as companies use AI to rewrite job descriptions and cut jobs.What they're saying: The only meaningful guardrails around workplace AI are happening "at the bargaining table, where workers are showing up and demanding protections,"

The Trump administration has made exporting American AI a key part of its plans for global AI dominance, but ad hoc policy decisions around the most advanced AI are threatening that effort.Why it matters: A flagship U.S. program designed to boost AI exports could be undermined by the very administration that created it."The government's willingness to arbitrarily and abruptly remove America's best models from all foreign use shows that the strategy behind the AI Export Program is no longer relev

Data: FactSet ; Chart: Matt Phillips/AxiosSpaceX jumped another 4.8% Tuesday, enabling Elon Musk's space launch/satellite services/AI/social media conglomerate to leapfrog Amazon.com in market value.In just its first two full days of trading, SpaceX has added roughly $537 billion to push its market value to $2.659 trillion, according to FactSet data.That puts it ahead of Amazon.com, which was valued at $2.646 trillion at Tuesday's close. Why it matters: The gain underscores the extraordinary pow

The still-secret terms of President Trump's Iran deal have triggered a furious debate over how much Tehran stands to gain financially — and how soon.The big picture: The deal is expected to allow Iran to sell oil freely during a 60-day negotiating window, while opening the door to broader sanctions relief, access to frozen funds and a potential $300 billion rebuilding investment fund if a final nuclear agreement is reached.Friction point: Critics argue that after shredding the 2015 nuclear deal

Multiple people are in custody after the FBI disrupted an alleged threat against President Trump's White House UFC event, FBI Director Kash Patel said Tuesday.The big picture: There have been several attempts on Trump's life, including a recent shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, as law enforcement reckons with a period of elevated political violence.Driving the news: Federal officials and law enforcement partners learned of a potential threat from people outside the

AI researchers and cybersecurity leaders fear the U.S. government is setting a precedent that may discourage American AI companies from building tools that help defenders identify and fix vulnerabilities.Why it matters: In trying to avert an AI hacking crisis, the Trump administration may end up making U.S. cyber defenses weaker, dozens of prominent security leaders warned.Cybersecurity experts are worried about the long tail this ongoing feud will have on American cyber defenses."They've set a

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's team is urging congressional Democrats to frame the Justice Department's investigation into him as part of a campaign of political retribution, according to talking points obtained by Axios.Why it matters: The messaging memo, first reported by Semafor, echos Newsom's assertion that the probe was directly ordered by President Trump to kneecap the California governor's political aspirations."He ordered this investigation because the Governor is considering a run for

Campaign ads featuring AI-generated clips and images once sounded like a laughable concept. Now they're everywhere, with attack ads that place candidates in a wide variety of compromising — and fictitious — situations.Why it matters: This largely unregulated practice is warping the unspoken norms of political campaigns and blurring the line between truth and fiction.Some campaigns voluntarily disclose this AI use, but it's not required. Democrats want to change that if they retake control of Con

Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, slammed tech moguls for hypocritical, grandiose warnings that are alienating Americans at a time of huge workforce opportunity."Nobody knows for sure, but let's not panic," Smith, who has been with Microsoft for 33 years, said from the tech giant's headquarters in Redmond, Washington.Why it matters: Smith is among the tech leaders who think dire predictions about AI's threat to entry-level white-collar jobs are souring young Americans on a mirac

Vice President JD Vance's memoir about his conversion to Catholicism, out Tuesday, puts a high-profile face on a small but distinctive slice of the U.S. Church.Why it matters: Parish reports have fueled talk of a Catholic revival. But a new Pew Research Center analysis found the Church loses eight former Catholics for every adult it gains through conversion.The converts it does attract tend to be whiter, more conservative, and more observant than "cradle Catholics," or those born into the faith.

Data: Nielsen; Chart: Axios VisualsFox's $22 billion deal to buy Roku marks a turning point in the streaming wars and a new era for the Murdoch media empire. Why it matters: Streaming is no longer a paid subscriber race, but rather an opportunity for entertainment giants to accelerate other parts of their businesses where they have a competitive edge against Netflix. For Apple, Amazon, Disney and Comcast/NBCUniversal, that means selling devices, e-commerce subscriptions, parks/movie tickets and

The Trump administration says it wants American AI to dominate the world.But its decision to force Anthropic to abruptly cut off access to one of its most advanced models risks sending foreign governments and companies a very different message: Don't build your future on U.S. AI.Why it matters: As the Trump administration shapes its AI regulatory regime in real time, the precedents it sets could reverberate far beyond an individual showdown with Anthropic.Catch up quick: The last month of AI pol

House Democrats are seething over what is, by all indications, a nationwide Republican effort to elevate Democratic primary candidates viewed as more beatable in November.Why it matters: This once-rare practice is becoming commonplace. Democrats did it in 2022 and 2024, with one House Democrat telling Axios it "seems like the new normal."Republican former Rep. Adam Kinzinger told Axios that GOP spending in Democratic primaries is "awful" but was "inevitable" after Democrats adopted the tactic in

CIA Director John Ratcliffe told President Trump and other senior officials that evidence gathered by U.S. intelligence agencies raises serious doubts about Iran's willingness to make the nuclear concessions the U.S. is seeking in any final deal, according to three sources familiar with those discussions.Friction point: Ratcliffe isn't the only skeptic in Trump's top team. In internal discussions, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth both expressed concerns and ra

As Kevin Warsh leads his first policy meeting as Federal Reserve chairman this week, he is not getting the luxury of starting the job in "easy" mode.The big picture: He faces a renewed surge of inflation, a restive wing of monetary hawks on the policy committee and big questions around how he will operationalize the major changes he advocates in how the Fed works.Even if the policy outcome — no change to rates — looks preordained, the messaging would be tricky in any circumstance.Coming as the f

The U.S. and Iran, together with Pakistani and Qatari mediators, are expected to hold a virtual meeting on Sunday and electronically sign a memorandum of understanding that will extend the ceasefire by 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and launch negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. Why it matters: The pending remote signing is a result of almost three months of negotiations between the U.S. and the Iranian regime, mediated by Pakistan, Qatar, Egypt and Turkey. .The MOU is expected to en