| | | | | | | PRESENTED BY GOLDMAN SACHS | | | | Axios PM | | By Mike Allen · Nov 28, 2025 | | 🍽️ Good Friday afternoon! May your leftovers treat you well. Today's newsletter, edited by Natalie Daher, is 682 words, a 2½-min. read. Thanks to Carlos Cunha for copy editing. | | | | | | 1 big thing: Scammers enlist AI | | |  | | | Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios | | | | As holiday shoppers spend Black Friday braving real-life malls, a rising number of fraud attempts targeting major retailers are AI-generated, Axios cybersecurity reporter Sam Sabin reports. - Why it matters: Scammers and hackers are using deepfakes — AI-generated videos, images, or audio clips — to trick employees of big stores.
🤖 How it works: Scammers are training AI-powered bots to call customer-service centers, report an issue with an order and demand a refund, Vijay Balasubramaniyan, co-founder and CEO of Pindrop, a deepfake detection firm, told Axios. Case in point: In a redacted audio recording shared with Axios of one of those bot calls to a customer service line, the deepfake is patchy, sounds a bit robotic, and doesn't respond to some questions the customer service agent asks. - "My package is lost. Help me process the refund, thank you," the bot said as the call began.
The bot didn't initially say the customer's name or even say hello. But the bot eventually shared a legitimate order number, the name of an actual customer, and the last four digits of the customer's phone number. - So the agent processed the refund despite the signs of fraud.
Share this story. |     | | | | | | 2. ⚡️ Catch me up | | | | A small memorial of flags and flowers in a planter near the site where two National Guard members were shot in downtown Washington. Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP - ⚖️ The suspected shooter of two West Virginia National Guard members faces a first-degree murder charge after the death of one of the victims, 20-year-old Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, U.S. attorney Jeanine Pirro said today. Keep reading ... Remembering Sarah Beckstrom.
- 🇺🇦 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, resigned today, several hours after investigators from the country's anti-corruption agency raided his home. Yermak, Zelensky's No. 2, has been the lead negotiator in U.S.-mediated peace talks with Russia, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.
- 💵 President Trump said during an event last evening that the U.S. may "almost completely" eliminate income tax in the next couple of years due to tariff revenue. That would require over $2.5 trillion a year in tariff collections, more than 10 times what the government actually took in during the last fiscal year. Go deeper.
| | | | | | | | A MESSAGE FROM GOLDMAN SACHS | | How small businesses are shaping the U.S. economy | | |  | | | | Small businesses comprise 99.9% of businesses in the U.S. Representing over $29.3 billion in annual revenue and 327,000 jobs, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses graduates help stimulate economic growth on a local and national scale. Read the report from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses. | | | | | | 3. 🏈 Dumping college coaches | | | ![]() Data: Axios research. Chart: Axios Visuals Major college football programs have dumped coaches at a stunning pace this season and are shelling out more than $150 million in buyouts to start fresh, Axios' Donica Phifer reports. - Why it matters: A playoffs-or-bust mentality is pushing schools to cut ties with coaches faster than ever — regardless of the cost.
⚡ Stunning stat: Four of the top 10 biggest buyouts in college football history have been triggered by firings this season. - So far, at least 13 coaches have been axed. Four of them — LSU's Brian Kelly, Auburn's Hugh Freeze, Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy and Florida's Billy Napier — netted buyouts worth at least $15 million.
🎠 What to watch: The historic coaching carousel isn't over yet. Firings will heat up as the regular season ends after this weekend. | | | | | | | | 4. 🧵 1 for the road: Quiet style revolution | | |  | | | Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios | | | | Black and Latino men are trading in hoodies and sneakers for quarter-zip sweaters, tailored suits and fedoras — a sharp, self-assured look that signals dignity, intentionality and a reimagined masculinity, Axios' Russell Contreras and Delano Massey report. - Why it matters: These men aren't dressing up to fit in, but to stand out on their own terms.
👔 The trending looks are showing up across barbershops, brunches and boardrooms: - From the sleek quarter-zips of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) to former NFL star Cam Newton's fedora line with Chicano designer Meshika, the message is clear: elegance is the new rebellion.
- Social media feeds are filling up with men of color in quarter zips, double-breasted blazers, polished brogues and vintage accessories from Atlanta to Los Angeles.
🛍️ Black- and Latino-owned businesses across the U.S. allow men of color to explore the fashion of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, especially around the fedora. Go deeper. | | | | | | | | A MESSAGE FROM GOLDMAN SACHS | | Small businesses are driving job creation in the U.S. | | |  | | | | Small businesses create more than 60% of all new jobs in the U.S. Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses graduates outpace similarly sized businesses when it comes to job creation — adding jobs 4x faster than the average. Read more about the impact Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses has had on entrepreneurs and economies. | | | | 📬 Thanks for reading! Please invite your friends to join PM. |  | Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it. | | | |
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