News — 2026-05-18

A federal jury unanimously rejected Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, ruling that the claim was filed too late. The decision came as Musk's legal team appeared deflated, and OpenAI attorneys showed visible relief. Microsoft praised the verdict, emphasizing its partnership with OpenAI. Musk did not return to the courtroom after testifying and missed the reading of the verdict, having chosen to attend a summit with Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping instead. His lawyer, Marc Toberoff, confirmed plans to appeal the ruling. Read more

A nine‑person jury in Oakland unanimously found that Elon Musk filed his lawsuit against OpenAI, Sam Altman and Microsoft beyond the statutory deadline, effectively ending the high‑profile case without reaching the merits. The advisory verdict, which Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is likely to adopt, clears a major legal hurdle for OpenAI as it prepares for a public‑benefit corporation conversion and a potential IPO. Musk’s bid to unwind the company’s restructuring and seek billions in disgorgement is now in jeopardy. Read more

Peter Steinberger, the engineer behind the open‑source project OpenClaw, racked up a $1.3 million charge on the OpenAI API in a single month while running about 100 Codex instances. The bill, covered by OpenAI as a research investment, represents 603 billion tokens across 7.6 million requests and offers the first public glimpse of how much autonomous AI‑driven software development can cost at scale. Read more

Anthropic announced Monday that it has bought Stainless, the developer‑tools startup founded by former Stripe engineer Alex Rattray. The deal, reportedly valued at more than $300 million, removes a widely used SDK‑generation platform from the hands of rivals such as OpenAI, Google and Cloudflare. Anthropic will discontinue Stainless’s hosted services but will let existing customers keep and modify the SDKs they have already generated. The acquisition gives Anthropic exclusive control over technology that has powered every official Anthropic SDK since the company launched its API. Read more

A California jury unanimously ruled that Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI co‑founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, as well as Microsoft, was filed too late. Musk alleged the companies stole a charitable venture by turning OpenAI into a for‑profit entity, but jurors accepted the defendants' statute‑of‑limitations defense. The verdict ends the most high‑profile legal threat to OpenAI ahead of its anticipated IPO, while Musk's counsel signals an appeal. Read more

The Royal Museums Greenwich has cautioned that the speed of modern AI chatbots may undermine the very habits that drive scientific discovery. Director Paddy Rodgers argues that instant, polished responses can short‑circuit the curiosity, evidence‑weighing and investigative detours essential to learning. The warning comes as industry leaders like Sam Altman promote metered AI services sold like utilities, heightening concerns that reasoning could become a on‑demand commodity rather than a practiced skill. Experts urge users to treat AI as a research aid, not a final verdict. Read more

A non‑programmer used Claude, a large‑language model, to create a web app that logs personal encounters with administrative hassles. By stitching together Supabase, GitHub and Netlify, the maker turned a vague idea into a functional dashboard that rewards users with quotes and images. The project exposed security gaps, such as an exposed API key, and highlighted how AI can lower the barrier to software creation while still demanding basic technical chores. The app now serves a small community that shares grievances about everything from phone‑tree loops to subscription traps. Read more

A class-action lawsuit filed in California accuses OpenAI of sending ChatGPT users' prompts and identifying information to Google Analytics and Meta Pixel without proper consent. The complaint claims the practice violates California privacy statutes and federal wiretap rules, exposing sensitive personal data that users share while seeking advice on health, finances, legal matters, and more. OpenAI has not responded to requests for comment, and the case now moves toward court. Read more

Lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI delivered closing arguments this week, leaving jurors to decide whether OpenAI crossed legal lines after reshaping into a more for‑profit entity. The courtroom drama centered on Sam Altman's credibility, especially after his congressional testimony about his equity stake was challenged. Both sides accused the other of misleading statements, underscoring a broader industry question: can AI labs be trusted when much of their inner workings remain opaque? Read more

OpenAI announced a partnership with Malta that will give every Maltese citizen and resident free access to ChatGPT Plus for a year after they complete a government‑backed AI literacy course. The "AI for All" program, developed with the University of Malta, rolls out this month and also covers Maltese nationals abroad. Officials say the move is part of a broader push to embed AI education into public services, while similar discussions are underway in the United Arab Emirates. Read more