Elon Musk’s lawsuit over OpenAI’s shift to a for-profit model kicks off in Oakland, with Musk, Sam Altman and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella set to testify. The case highlights internal clashes as OpenAI faces fierce AI competition and gears up for a potential $1 trillion IPO.

• Musk's lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI's board over its shift to a for-profit model goes to trial in Oakland, with Musk, Altman, and Satya Nadella testifying.
• OpenAI's lawyers will argue Shivon Zilis, ex-board member and mother of four of Musk's children, leaked sensitive inside information to Musk.
• Musk claims the for-profit restructuring betrayed the nonprofit's mission and diluted early backers' control; Altman argues it was necessary to fund massive compute costs.
• The trial unfolds as OpenAI competes with rivals like Anthropic and prepares for a possible IPO valuing it near $1 trillion.

Elon Musk is suing Sam Altman’s OpenAI for billions in damages, claiming breaches stemming from their 2015 co-founding agreement. The jury trial, starting Monday, could reshape the competitive dynamics in the A.I. industry.

• Musk is suing OpenAI for billions plus a board seat, alleging Altman and Brockman abandoned the founding nonprofit mission without his consent when they raised $10B+ from Microsoft and gave investors control.
• OpenAI counters that Musk left the board in 2018 before the for-profit shift and Microsoft deal, and claims he's really just bitter about missing out on ChatGPT's success.
• Key evidence includes emails where Altman and Brockman said they'd keep Musk "at arm's length" on fundraising—Musk calls this proof of bad faith, OpenAI calls it casual banter.
• The verdict could ripple across the AI industry, either chilling OpenAI's partnerships and investor confidence or validating founder-to-investor governance shifts at other startups.

Max Read interviews Ben Tarnoff and Quinn Slobodian about their book Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, arguing Elon Musk’s business style and political interventions form a distinct ideology akin to Fordism. They outline how Musk’s methods and public projects coalesce into a coherent framework worth analyzing.

• Tarnoff and Slobodian frame "Muskism" as a coherent ideology comparable to Fordism, not just erratic billionaire behavior
• Musk's pattern: propose a grand technological goal, use public/government resources to build it, then privatize the gains while spinning failures into legend
• Despite seemingly contradictory stances on climate, labor, and free speech, they argue an accelerationist logic ties it together—move fast, break norms, concentrate power
• Twitter's dismantled content moderation serves as their prime example of Muskism as a live experiment in radical deregulation

Banks and firms involved in SpaceX's IPO must buy subscriptions to Elon Musk’s Grok AI service. Some banks are reportedly spending tens of millions to integrate Grok into their systems. SpaceX recently filed its IPO paperwork amid ongoing legal issues related to Grok's AI technology.

• Musk is requiring banks and firms working on SpaceX's IPO to buy Grok subscriptions
• Some banks are spending tens of millions of dollars to integrate Grok into their IT systems
• This is happening while Grok faces investigations over generating CSAM and nude images
• Musk also pushed banks to advertise on X, though less forcefully than the Grok requirement

SpaceX is exploring the development of a Starlink-branded phone that would connect directly to its satellite constellation. Although details are still vague, Elon Musk has suggested that the device could be optimized for specific uses, such as running neural networks. Starlink is a significant revenue source for SpaceX, contributing to its overall financial success.

• SpaceX is exploring a "Starlink Phone" that connects directly to its satellite constellation, possibly optimized for neural network processing rather than typical smartphone use.
• Starlink now serves 9 million users via 9,500+ satellites, with about 650 dedicated to direct-to-device connectivity, and drives a major share of SpaceX's $15-16 billion revenue.
• Musk is pivoting SpaceX's focus toward building a self-sustaining Moon city before Mars, citing more frequent launch opportunities, while still planning to start Mars development in 5-7 years.