1. The verdict is out.
The combined photo shows OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (left) on April 28, 2026, and Elon Musk on April 29, 2026, during the trial of Elon Musk’s lawsuit over OpenAI’s commercial conversion in federal court in Oakland, California.
Manuel Orbegoso | Reuters
After less than two hours of deliberation, the jury decided: tesla CEO Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI’s Sam Altman had exceeded the three-year statute of limitations. The recommended verdict, adopted immediately by the judges, ended a three-week trial and a years-long saga that engulfed Silicon Valley.
Here’s what you need to know:
Musk wrote in a social media post that the ruling was based on a “calendar technicality” and said in a social media post that he intended to appeal. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said she was prepared to throw out the ruling “on the spot” after Musk’s lawyer, Stephen Moro, reserved the billionaire’s right to appeal. microsoft Musk, who was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, celebrated as he left the courtroom in Oakland, California. The relationship between Mr. Musk and Mr. Altman was not always rocky. CNBC’s Ashley Caputo and Laura Kolodny explain how the two went from close friends to fierce rivals. The technology industry will likely be watching another legal battle in the future. Oral arguments begin today in a lawsuit against the Department of Justice over Anthropic’s blacklisting.
2. Memory loss
Exterior view of the Seagate office in Fremont, California, October 26, 2022.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
3.Durable material
On November 8, 2025, the Home Depot logo appears on one of its San Diego stores.
Kevin Carter | Getty Images News | Getty Images
home depot This morning’s sales and bottom line exceeded expectations for the first quarter. The company also reaffirmed its full-year outlook, noting strong performance among its core homeowner shoppers despite rising gas prices, declining consumer confidence and a collapsing housing market.
“Homeowners continue to see engagement because they are, in a relevant sense, probably more economically protected than other customer groups,” CFO Richard McPhail said in an interview with CNBC.
This report kicks off a big week for retailers’ earnings: Competitors lowe’swith target and walmartBoth companies are scheduled to announce their quarterly results within the next few days. Wall Street is wary of the sector as rising gas prices raise consumer health concerns.
4. Feed head
Federal Reserve Board Chair candidate Kevin Warsh arrives for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in the Dirksen Building on April 21, 2026.
Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call Inc. | Getty Images
Mark your calendars: President Donald Trump will nominate Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chairman on Friday, a White House official told CNBC.
Warsh will become the 11th chair of a modern central bank and the richest person to ever lead the Fed. Under new regulations for Fed officials, he will be required to sell many of his portfolio’s investments.
President Trump has made it clear that he expects the Fed, led by Warsh, to lower interest rates. But Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research said Warsh might instead have to raise rates at the central bank’s July meeting to appease the “bond vigilantes.”
5. Price for everyone
A large statue of US President Donald Trump is displayed at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington, DC, on May 18, 2026.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
President Trump yesterday dropped a $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. In return, the Justice Department announced it would create a $1.8 billion fund to settle claims of people who say they are victims of the “law.”
The Anti-Weaponization Fund receives funding from the Justice Department’s Judgment Fund and allows organizations to settle cases and make payments. The ministry announced that it will stop processing claims to the Asian Women’s Fund by December 2028 at the latest.
A spokesperson for President Trump’s legal team said in a statement that the president settled a lawsuit he filed against the Internal Revenue Service in January over leaks of tax information by government employees “squarely in the interests of the American people.” Democrats blasted the deal, with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren calling it “corruption on steroids.”
daily dividend
The rise of AI is putting the college-to-job pipeline at risk. But as CNBC’s Gabriel Fonrouge reports, companies are hiring in droves for skilled trade jobs, creating new paths to the American Dream.

—CNBC’s Laura Kolodny, Jeffrey Kopp, Ashley Caputo, Sean Conlon, Tobias Burns, Jeff Cox, Dan Mangan and Gabriel Fonrouge contributed to this report.
CJ Haddad helped produce this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this version.
