🗞️SpaceX is exploring mergers

January 29th, 2026

What happened today 🇺🇸,

• Elon Musk's company SpaceX is exploring potential mergers with either Tesla or xAI ahead of its planned mid-2026 IPO

• The Senate has reached a bipartisan deal to fund five government agencies (Defense, State, Transportation, HHS, Labor/Education) through fiscal year 2026 while extending DHS funding at current levels via a two-week continuing resolution, averting most of a partial shutdown that was set for January 31st

• A man from Minnesota, Mark Anderson, was arrested at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center after attempting to impersonate an FBI agent with a fake court order to secure the release of Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the December 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

• President Trump is suing the IRS and U.S.Treasury for $10 billion over a leak of his confidential tax records…read more here

• Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) announced she is running for governor of Minnesota in 2026, jumping into the race after Governor Tim Walz decided not to seek a third term

• Amazon is in advanced talks to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI as part of a potential $100 billion funding round valuing the company at around $830 billion

• The U.S. trade deficit nearly doubled to $56.8 billion in November from $29.2 billion in October, imports jumped 5% to $348.9 billion and exports fell 3.6% to $292.1 billion, leaving the year-to-date gap 4% wider than 2024

• Apple announced the acquisition of Q.ai, an Israeli startup specializing in AI for audio processing, image and machine learning, for a reported $2 billion

• The NHTSA opened an investigation into Waymo after one of its driverless vehicles struck a child near a Santa Monica elementary school during drop-off hours amid double-parked cars and a crossing guard, with the child suffering minor injuries

• DOW up .11% / S&P down .13%

• Trump administration officials have reportedly held covert meetings with the Alberta Prosperity Project, a separatist group seeking Alberta's independence from Canada…read more here

• President Trump said that Russian President Putin has agreed to his personal request for a one-week suspension of missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities amid extreme winter cold that has left millions without heat or power

Plus: A look at the American population by generation

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