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Colorado puts new limits on sports betting as wagers soar
The rules aim to curb harmful gambling practices as sports betting reaches record highs.
Exclusive: D.C. sports radio veteran Andy Pollin is off the air
He had hoped to retire in 2028, marking 50 years in the business.
Nashville's Main Street Health ranked fastest-growing private company in U.S.
Main Street Health is ranked fastest-growing company in U.S. thanks to creative approach to rural health.
Exclusive: Flagler Health raises $50M for MSK
Investor interest in MSK-focused companies remains thanks in part to a large total addressable market.
New "Madden 27" turns you into a news junkie
Madden's refresh reflects sports media's reality: despite heavy layoffs and reorganizations, news remains a vital driver of entertainment and information for fans, teams and athletes alike.
New "Madden 27" turns you into a news junkie
Madden's refresh reflects sports media's reality: despite heavy layoffs and reorganizations, news remains a vital driver of entertainment and information for fans, teams and athletes alike.
Why businesses may need to rethink how they plan
According to Axios, we have entered a new era of “post-processable velocity,” where the pace of technological and AI-driven change is faster than individuals, companies, markets and governments can fully absorb, understand or respond to in real time. The major shift is from information moving faster than humans can process to capabilities changing faster than […]
Louisiana health officials warn of vibrio case rise
🚨 A jump in Vibrio vulnificus cases is prompting Louisiana health officials to urge caution around certain exposures to salt water and raw seafood. The bacteria is known for causing a "flesh-eating" infection. Nine people have been hospitalized, and five have died this year, officials said Thursday. (Press release)
University of Michigan Health ranks among U.S. best
U.S. News also ranked the Ann Arbor hospital No. 1 in Michigan.
The video game industry's new cheat code: AI prompts
Experts predict AI will eventually create full games.
Group promoting science urges Kelly to run for president
314 Action Fund has raised its profile this cycle, elevating candidates with STEM backgrounds.
AOC is leaving her 2028 options open
One points to the White House. One runs through Chuck Schumer.
AI is entertainment's scarlet letter
Disclosure or denial both won't help you.
OpenAI makes major upgrades for free and paid ChatGPT users
The upgrades will help both paid and free users.
Corporate consistency wins
Americans are increasingly practical and appear skeptical of companies that react to the political moment.
El-Sayed victory may bring a progressive doc to Senate
It also elevates health care in a key Senate race.
Fauci woes could deter scientists from public service
It's part of a broader erosion of the federal health workforce.
Exclusive: Business Insider names digital media vet Christian Baesler its permanent CEO
The German media giant is betting on Baesler to reinvent the nearly 20-year-old publication for a post-search and social media traffic era.
TotalEnergies agrees to buy Shell's European onshore renewables business
TotalEnergies will add 4 gigawatt of solar, wind and battery storage projects and assets.
Healthcare staffing shortages are driving a patient care quality crisis
From hospitals and clinics to doctors' offices and urgent care centers, healthcare executives and clinicians agree: staffing shortages directly compromise their ability to provide high-quality care to patients.
Poll: Americans find common ground on moms and babies
Nearly eight in 10 voters say they're more likely to support a candidate who champions maternal health reform.
The shaky health leadership reboot
Controversial vaccine policymaking appears to be back on the table.
Tim Cook says heavy Siri users may have to pay extra
Heavy users of Apple Intelligence may need an iCloud+ subscription
First look: Kamin Science Center's indoor go-karts
Axios Pittsburgh took the first laps inside the new racing attraction. 🏎️
Raleigh's bilingual science celebration returns Saturday
Free museum event features experiments, Latin American dance, NASA demos and family fun for all ages.
Senate Democrats lay out health insurance redesign targets
The effort's goal is to have a private insurance overhaul ready for 2029.
Political profanity is having a f*cking moment
Research suggests profanity makes politicians sound more authentic — and can boost voter support.
With BPL's new installation, art meets science
Hanging from the ceiling of the Boston Public Library's Deferrari Hall is a massive, chain-like aluminum installation.
Cyclospora exposes weak links in America's food safety system
The Trump administration wants Americans to eat healthy foods, but experts say cuts have weakened public health infrastructure.
Speak or resign: Beshear ups demand for McConnell health status
McConnell's absence is fueling speculation about his capacity to serve.
Sugar Land commits to life science
Sugar Land is betting on life science, landing two life sciences expansions this year.
Behind the Curtain: The 6 stages of political surrender
Watch how the language shifts, stage by stage, for signs of whether recent socialist wins are an anomaly, or the start of something bigger and broader.
Small businesses launch new Trump tariff challenge
The lawsuits set up another legal test of Trump's tariff agenda.
Kansas and Missouri fall in business rankings
Infrastructure carried the most weight this year.
Some Democrats tout their version of "America First"
President Trump's war in Iran is scrambling the politics of a slogan he once owned.
The video game industry is running out of extra lives
Gaming is shifting into a new frontier — and staring down a cost crisis.
AI moves into family life
AI is evolving from an on-demand assistant into an always-on presence that remembers, anticipates and increasingly acts like a member of the family.
Axios Live: Biosimilars face barriers beyond science
Outdated incentives, patent disputes and gaps in public understanding are getting in the way of patients' use of biosimilars
Health nominations stall in Senate committee
The administration's backlog of high-level health appointments isn't getting any smaller.
Nvidia CEO to Washington: Don't fall for "science fiction" AI fear
Jensen Huang railed against AI doomerism in an interview with Axios' Mike Allen.
WNBA All-Star Weekend puts Chicago in the spotlight
Several high-profile events will take place as Chicago hosts the big event.
Health insurance traps a quarter of Americans in unwanted jobs
Women and people who have chronic health conditions feel the burden most.
Boundary Waters fires deal blow to businesses
It would normally be high season for canoe outfitters, but business is dead.
Canes will start their own sports network
The Carolina Hurricanes are launching their own sports network ahead of next season after their existing broadcast partner shut down operations.
British robo-wingmen are "very much today's business"
The U.K. recently revealed the Storm Fighter, Storm Fire and Storm Chrome projects.
Scoop: Trump's top MAGA advisers gather to plot midterms
Trump's team is sitting on about $530 million and figuring out how, when and where to deploy it.
Federal agencies launch youth sports initiative
They announced the program Tuesday at the Colts practice facility.
Another East Side flood brings more questions for the city
As Cincinnati dries out, the focus is shifting from cleanup to long-term accountability.
Trump "public charge" rule resets health test for green cards
The policy shift could discourage immigrants from seeking health coverage, public health groups warn.
Exclusive: Karoo Health raises $16.2M Series A
The company is open to another raise in the next 18 months if it continues its current growth.
Campaign photo puts Toast on Lenox in political crosshairs
Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson visited the Atlanta restaurant and posted photos with the co-owner.
Wooly Mammoth startup Colossal seeking at least $20B valuation
Its research could be foundational in pharmaceuticals, climate change reversal, and longevity.
Denver's DNC bid faces a deep-blue dilemma
Colorado's blue-state status — and recent progressive primary wins — may complicate the city's pitch.
World Cup fuels Broward's summer business and hotel boom
Thank you to the Tartan Army and all of the international fans!
World Cup boosted Miami businesses, showcased its diversity
Some bars and hotels felt a World Cup bump.
AOC channels Obama's "Hope and Change" message
She's broadening her pitch beyond revolutionary democratic socialism ahead of a potential run for president.
Kansas City is struggling to get a chin-up on fitness
A 2026 report factors in basic exercise, nutrition, health outcomes and more.
ACA and Medicaid changes hang over health earnings
Insurers and health systems already are feeling the effects of significant enrollment drops and changes in who's paying for care.
The health risks of wildfire smoke and air quality
Wildfire smoke and bad air quality are hitting cities due to fires in Canada and Minnesota.
Braun ends Indiana programs supporting minority- and women-owned businesses
The programs had been in place since 1983.
One of Us gives San Diego women's sports fans a home
Fans won't have to fight to get women's games on TVs.
New Orleans' community health ranks 57th among top U.S. cities
That's a drop from No. 52 in 2024.
CVS wants to become the AI front door to health care
CVS Health is betting it can drive customer engagement with an AI assistant it developed with Google.
OpenAI launches a keypad for AI agents
Codex Micro is a remote control for your AI agents.
Florida falls slightly in CNBC business rankings
Florida is No. 8 among U.S. states.
Trump's CDC pick could have easier path than other nominees
That doesn't mean controversies around vaccines and public health are over.
The future of Hillsborough's health care plan is uncertain
About 1 in 6 adults under 65 in Hillsborough County lack health insurance.
Downtown Hollywood is still waiting for its turnaround
Business owners say rising rents, a lack of foot traffic and permitting delays have kept downtown Hollywood from taking off.
Weight-loss drugs didn't improve mental health or job prospects
The non-health benefits haven't been studied as closely as the health benefits.
Denver considers 4am nightclub proposal
The change would mark a significant shift for Denver's nightlife.
OB-GYN pay overhaul spells changes for maternal care
The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate among peer countries.
Remembering tenacious, ubiquitous Lindsey Graham
Graham died on Saturday from what his office called a "brief and sudden illness."
Sen. Lindsey Graham dies suddenly at 71
Graham was a close ally of President Trump and a staunch supporter of Israel and Ukraine.
Oregon falls to No. 42 in CNBC business ranking
The state moved farther from Gov. Tina Kotek's top-10 goal.
Colorado tumbles to No. 25 in CNBC's business rankings
Colorado's biggest decline came in infrastructure as the state fell to No. 25.
OpenAI's No. 2 executive stepping down over health issues
Simo's departure removes one of OpenAI's highest-profile executives.
NC falls in business ranking as growth hurts affordability
CNBC: NC still good for business but faces growth challenges.
Nashville's video game music boom continues with EA Sports College Football 27
Nashville has quietly become a hub for video game soundtracks.
Boston sues Meta, Snap, ByteDance over youth mental health
The city is suing the companies behind Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.
Kentucky governor demands update on McConnell's health status
The governor says Kentuckians deserve clarity on the senator's condition.
Ohio tops the nation in ACA enrollment drop
Expiring subsidies led Ohio to lose 32.4% of its enrollment between February 2025 and 2026.
Docs unable to harness wearables data, survey finds
Structural barriers could thwart any efforts by doctors to use continuous data from the devices.
Exclusive: Trump admin presses hospitals on healthier food
The "Make Hospital Food Healthier Pledge" encourages hospitals to reduce highly processed foods
Inside the McConnell health rumor mill
Majority Leader John Thune, Whip John Barrasso (and former aide Scott Jennings all described recent calls with McConnell.
Exclusive: Integral Ad Science hires Lidiane Jones as CEO
The former CEO of Bumble and Slack will succeed Lisa Utzschneider.
Exclusive: College athletes tend to pick teams on vibes. He wants to change that
Shawne Robinson wants to make his startup the "trusted advisor" of U.S. college sports data.
Pittsburgh group joins national push to fight loneliness
Pittsburgh Social Health will become the Pittsburgh Chamber of Connection.
Where Obamacare enrollment is plummeting
Ohio, Oklahoma, Arizona, South Carolina and Minnesota have sustained some of the deepest losses.
Anthropic says Claude has carved out its own space to ponder
The AI lab offers fresh ammunition to the debate over what would count as machine consciousness.
Charlotte patients turn to ketamine therapy for mental health treatment
The club drug once known as "Special K" is becoming an unlikely treatment for depression.
Council to vote on Office of Public Health and Safety oversight
The proposal calls for better contract management and ethics training.
Exclusive: Rural health funds to fix prior authorization
Delaware plans to streamline the insurer pre-treatment claims reviews, widely criticized for delaying timely health care.
Democratic socialists give new life to Medicare for All
The affordability crisis and frustration with the health system are fueling a new appetite for big-government solutions.
Americans of all ages are spending less time socializing
It's a fundamental shift in the way we live our lives that has implications for everything from what we believe to how long we live.
Medicare's health tech spending test
Emerging technologies can improve people's health if we fundamentally change the way the system pays for care.
Meta stock soars as Mark Zuckerberg explores cloud business
Meta shares soared Wednesday on a report that the company is wading into the business of selling cloud computing services and access to AI models.
Trump admin blasts Machado's "grotesque political opportunism" after Venezuela quakes
Machado's attempts to return to Venezuela have saddled the State Department with "extra needless drama," an official said.
Sony will cease production of discs for new PlayStation games in 2028
New games sold for PlayStation consoles will only be available digitally and won’t be sold on discs effective January 2028, Sony has announced. The move applies to all PlayStation games released from that point on, including those made by Sony and those released by third parties. The PlayStation group calls the change “a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,” according to a PlayStation blog post reviewed by Game File in advance of its publication. As movies, TV and music have shifted from physical media to an age of downloads and streaming, Sony’s move could speed the demise of physical media in a gaming. The industry has offered consumers games via cartridges, cassettes, floppy discs, CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays across a 50-year stretch. Sony has been reporting to investors in recent years that PlayStation games have been increasingly purchased as downloads, not as discs. The most recent figures show nearly four in five purchases of full games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 were purchased digitally in the past year. Stats like that may cause today’s news to carry an air of the inevitable. But Sony’s declaration for 2028 is still likely to produce a shock, as the biggest gaming platform on the planet that uses game discs leaves them behind. Discs going away, but the fate of game boxes is unknown Sony is committing to still selling games in physical retailers even after they drop discs in 2028. Just how those games will be sold—in boxes with codes inside, as cards marked with digital redemption codes—is unclear. Digital games will also continue to be sold in the online PlayStation Store. New games released for PlayStation consoles prior to January 2028 will be unaffected by the policy change, Sony says. That means the PS5 games of 2027, be they a new Madden, a new God of War, a new Call of Duty, a new Sly Cooper (one can dream?), would still potentially be offered on disc. PlayStation 6 implications Sony’s timeline for a transition to a no-disc era will also spin up more speculation about the timing and configuration of Sony’s next-generation console, the probable PlayStation 6. “This pretty much guarantees that PS6 won’t arrive until 2028 at the earliest,” Piers Harding-Rolls, senior games research analyst at Ampere Analysis tells Game File. Harding-Rolls also concludes from today’s news that “the base version of a PS6 will not include a physical media drive,” as Sony looks to keep costs down on the device. Sony itself is saying nothing about the PS6 today: not its timing, nor how it might or might not support internal or external disc drives in order to run disc-based PS4 and PS5 games, should the console be backwards compatible. The many signs this was coming Industry support for games being released on physical media has been waning. As has consumer interest in them. PC games effectively went all-digital years ago, thanks to the popularity of playing games through Steam and other digital storefronts. The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that kept much of the global population home helped shift shopping patterns toward downloads. Sony’s own data shows PlayStation game downloads being an uncommon consumer choice a decade ago and now becoming the norm. On consoles, physical media has been in such decline that Sony and Microsoft both launched their current gen Xbox Series and PS5 consoles in 2020 with cheaper versions that lacked disc drives. In early 2024, Phil Spencer, then head of Xbox, told me that ““[w]e ship games physically and digitally, and we’re really just following what the customers are doing.” He added that the game industry had become an outlier in still supporting disc-based entertainment, even as movies and TV have bailed on discs in favor of downloads and steaming: “Gaming consoles themselves have kind of become the last consumer electronic device that has a drive. And this is a real issue, just in terms of the number of manufacturers that are actually building drives and the cost associated with those. And when you think about cogs that we’re going to go put in a console—and as you have fewer suppliers and fewer buyers—the cost of the drive does have an impact.” Last year, the Nintendo’s Switch 2, which uses cartridges rather than discs, introduced the concept of game-key cards, which are physical media that contain no game, just a prompt for a download. Even disc-based games aren’t what they once were, now frequently containing just stubs of games rather than the whole thing. The website Does It Play has tested over 3000 games and found that, for example, that the disc version of this year’s hit 007: First Light, only contained the game’s first mission, with the rest needing to be downloaded. Beyond all that, last week brought the news that Grand Theft Auto VI, likely the biggest game launch this decade, will debut for PS5 and Xbox Series without a disc-based version. Today’s big news comes to you for free. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and ensure more of my work is possible, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Discs helped define PlayStation However the trends in entertainment may be going, it is still remarkable to see PlayStation ditch discs given their importance in PlayStation history: In the late 1990s, the first PlayStation’s support for games on relatively cheap CD-ROMs instead of traditional game cartridges allowed the upstart console to outmaneuver cartridge-based systems from Nintendo and Sega, as it drove down game prices down in the process. (The cheaper disc format even prompted Final Fantasy VII maker Square to taunt Nintendo in a magazine ad, saying that if the game was “available on cartridge, it’d retail for around $1200.”) PlayStation devices often doubled as machines for watching movies and TV on the latest disc-based formats. In the late 2000s, for example, Sony’s pricy PS3 gained traction as a go-to device for playing then-novel Blu-Ray discs. In 2013, Sony effectively roasted the digital game-sharing restrictions proposed by rival Microsoft for its upcoming Xbox One console by showing how games could be shared for the then-upcoming PS4. In a 21-second clip that has over 20 million views on YouTube, one PlayStation executive simply handed a game box—presumably with disc inside—to another, who said “thanks.” Sony’s possible motivations The PlayStation announcement today cites “consumer preferences” and a shift away from discs among “the broader entertainment industry,” but does not delve into the decision-making process that brought Sony to this point. Sony is not discussing the economics of this move (I asked!), but there are a number of potential factors: Abandoning discs will spare Sony the cost of manufacturing and shipping them, which analysts and industry veterans I spoke to said could account for $1 or so of a game’s retail price. For first-party games, that’s direct savings for Sony, though the amount is limited by the winnowing percentage of people who were even buying the disc-based versions. For third-party games, Sony could pass the savings on to partners or just retain the better profit margin for themselves. As the 2024 comments from Phil Spencer alluded to, leaving discs behind could mean leaving disc-drives behind, allowing Sony to produce consoles more cheaply. Switching to digital-only for games could diminish the risks of copies of new games leaking. It would also seemingly make second-hand sales of used games impossible, pushing more people to buy their own copies of games. These economic benefits for Sony could be boons for the games industry overall, Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls tells Game File. Among other things, it could free publishers and retailers from having to worry about securing an inventory of game discs when trying to sell games, he noted. “If there is a way to streamline the business of games retail, I generally think it’s a good thing for the industry as it removes unnecessary costs,” Harding-Rolls said. “This will help offset pressure on margins from other directions – development and staffing costs for example.” Should the industry shift from game boxes that contain discs to smaller, cheaper game cards, Harding-Rolls said, that reduces pressure on publishers and retailers. “The advantage of everything going digital for the industry is that sales can be tracked much more easily and there is less commercial risk for publishers wanting to continue selling via retail,” he said. The shift to no discs will also likely impact game development timelines, as developers will no longer face the same urgency to have a build ready to submit to PlayStation for the production of a disc, as industry experts noted around GTA VI’s no-disc news last week. Instead, projects may gain weeks of development time, in the event delivery deadlines for platform approval move closer to release date. Preservationists’ likely worries While millions of gamers have shifted to digital, there are still people who associate game discs—and only game discs—with actual ownership of PlayStation games. That portion of the gaming community spoke up last week about wanting to buy a version of GTA VI that they could hold in their hands, could lend to a friend and could potentially pop into a well-preserved PS5 console three decades from now and still see it run. Such gamers didn’t want to worry that they’d merely purchased a digital copy that could lose access to the game if, say, the company behind the game someday turns of the servers that transmit downloadable copies. Digital copies of games are inherently less long-lasting, because consumers aren’t actually buying a game (on a disc), just buying access to the game. The fine print in online gaming shops notes this, as does a recent law that went on the books in California in 2025. That lasw requires game publishers doing business in the state to refrain from words like “sell” when offering digital copies of games, unless they explicitly tell consumers that what’s being sold isn’t the game itself but a potentially revocable license to access it. A Sony spokesperson noted to Game File that “[w]ith all digital content, including games, movies, and music, players are purchasing a personal license for non-commercial use.” Regarding the fears of PlayStation games being lost to time in an all-digital era, the rep also noted that Sony remains “committed to delivering experiences from past generations to the new platforms our players are using.” They noted that PlayStation has used emulation and remasters to keep offering its classic games to modern gamers. It’s true that many consumers have become accustomed to not having physical copies of new music albums or movies, but the relative precariousness of digital copies of games is in fact being highlighted today by…. Sony’s other big announcement: the upcoming closure of the PS3 and PS Vita online stores Sony said today that it will be closing the online marketplaces for its PlayStation 3 console and PS Vita handheld in most countries in July 2027 (sooner elsewhere: August 2026 for the PS3 store Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua; late 2026 for PS3 in other Latin American countries and the Middle East). “We know this news may be disappointing to PS3 and PS Vita players who hold a special place in their hearts for this generation of gaming,” Sony said in its announcement, saying the move “was not an easy decision for us to make.” Sony said that PS3 and Vita marketplaces “are no longer able” to support modern commerce systems, prompting a “need” to close the shops and focus on more modern PlayStation platform stores. The news may spark some deja vu. Sony announced back in March 2021 that it planned to take the PS3, Vita and PlayStation Portable marketplaces offline that summer. The move would have caused some 2,000 digital-only games to become unavailable for new purchasers, according to a VGC analysis at the time. Fans complained loudly. By April 2021, Sony walked back the PS3 and Vita shop closures, with then PlayStation boss Jim Ryan saying “it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here.” This time around, Sony is giving a longer notice period in most regions. The closure of those stores is still likely to cut off access to new purchases of digital-only PS3 and Vita games. The current PlayStation 5 marketplace sells PS5 and PS4 games, as well as a selection of PS1 and PS2 games. It does not sell PS3 games, because games for that platform can’t run on the system (some are offered via a PlayStation Plus streaming option). Vita games also aren’t sold via PS5. Sony says digitally purchased PS3 and Vita games will be downloadable after the stores’ shutdowns “for the foreseeable future.” Sony’s move contrasts with Microsoft’s Xbox platform, which continues to sell and support games from all four Xbox console generations. But it puts it in line with Nintendo, which disabled purchases in the marketplace for its Wii console (a contemporary of the PS3) in 2019. Nintendo discontinued purchases in the online shop for its 3DS portable (a contemporary of the Vita) in 2023. The big questions about Sony’s 2028 post-disc era Will Microsoft follow suit, ending support for new disc-based games on Xbox platforms and therefore all game consoles, too? Whether Microsoft does or not, will third-parties that can no longer release games on discs for PlayStation, simply ditch the disc options across the board? Given the GTA VI no-disc experiment launching this November, will more game publishers decide to forgo disc-based offerings even in 2027? How will no-disc PS5/6 games be packaged and sold in brick-and-mortar retail stores? What becomes of game sharing in an all-digital era? Will Sony modify its current set-up, which currently allows some sharing of digital games across a pair of consoles, to allow more casual lending? (See for example, Nintendo’s year-old system of letting players lend a digital game to another player in a “family group” for up to 14 days.) Will there be a version of a PS6 with a disc drive? Or will a drive be offered as an add-on? And how will gamers who want to retain access to PS4/PS5 disc-based games react to whichever configurations Sony chooses to offer? What will the final disc-based PlayStation game be?
Quote du jour: "Sports-mad" region
"The thing that really struck me coming to the southeast four years ago is that this region is sports-mad, you know? You're absolutely obsessed with it. And of course, in England, in the U.K., we're obsessed with soccer, and I think it's a match made in heaven."