Axios

The most consequential force reshaping geopolitics and business can be captured in one word: asymmetry, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei writes in his new weekly Axios C-Suite newsletter.

• The small can now destroy the big. The cheap can neutralize the expensive.
• Drones proved it on the battlefield. AI is proving it everywhere else.

Why it matters: Every CEO now faces the same question the Pentagon does: Are you the $3 million missile or the $35,000 drone?

Data centers have become a boxy, hulking flashpoint heading into the midterms — and the backlash is spreading fast across red and blue states.

Why it matters: With no federal action, states are fielding constituent anger over power grids, water supplies and strained local infrastructure. But investment keeps accelerating; Wall Street isn't slowing down, and neither is Washington's appetite for AI dominance.

Success for artists is being driven by marketing power and superfandom in a more democratized music industry.

Why it matters: Instead of relying on revenue from album sales or streams alone, artists increasingly depend on building dedicated audiences that follow them across platforms, buy their merch and attend their shows.

Subscription streaming platforms are expanding payouts to more music creators than ever before, but top artists still capture the vast majority of revenue.

Why it matters: The streaming era has made distribution and discoverability easier for a wider group of artists, but it's also reinforced the dominance of the biggest stars.

Easter baskets are getting a squishy upgrade this year, as parents hunt for toys like NeeDoh and glittery "dumplings" — among this season's hottest items.

Why it matters: The surge shows how viral, low-cost toys can quickly turn into must-have items — driving sellouts and resale markups.

A growing number of software developers say AI coding tools are frying their brains.

The big picture: The most popular agentic AI systems have triggered something that looks a lot like addiction among some of tech's highest performers.

OpenAI's head of AGI deployment, Fidji Simo, is taking "several weeks" of medical leave, according to an internal memo that Axios has reviewed and that was originally reported by The Information.

The big picture: Simo's leave sets off a broader leadership reshuffling across OpenAI, with responsibilities spreading across top executives.

A sharp rise in defense spending. Steep cuts elsewhere. All against a backdrop of rapid growth.

• That is the Trump administration's formal 2027 budget proposal, in a nutshell.

Why it matters: As always, the presidential budget is more of a statement of the White House's goals than a road map that is likely to be enacted by Congress. This one shows a president who is eager to spend big on the military while bringing austerity to the rest of the federal budget.

There's been a lot written about how both Anthropic and OpenAI want to go public later this year, with each hoping to beat the other to market.

• What's been discussed less is the why.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday sued three states — Arizona, Connecticut and Illinois — for what what it calls "unconstitutional and invalid" applications of state anti-gambling laws to prediction markets.

Why it matters: These cases could determine who really regulates companies like Kalshi and Polymarket, which have raised billions of dollars from venture capitalists