Welcome back to your daily memorandum talking tech, business, AI, markets, and more. 🗞️

In today’s edition, we are tackling the following:

🤝 OpenAI and Microsoft are in talks to reset their high-stakes partnership.
⚖️ Trump fires copyright office director after report raises questions about AI training.
🛢️ Aramco profit drops as uncertainty hits oil markets.
🌐 US Commerce Secretary Lutnick says China talks aimed at lowering trade tensions.
🗳️ Albania votes as PM Rama seeks fourth term, promising EU integration.

TECHNOLOGY

• OpenAI and Microsoft are in talks to reset their high-stakes partnership

  • OpenAI is currently in ‘a tough negotiation’ with one of its biggest investors and partners.

  • The AI startup recently announced a major change to its corporate restructuring plans.

  • While it still aims to convert its business arm into a for-profit public benefit corporation, its nonprofit board will remain in control.

• Trump fires copyright office director after report raises questions about AI training

  • President Donald Trump has fired Shira Perlmutter, who leads the U.S. Copyright Office.

  • During the first Trump administration, Perlmutter took over the Copyright Office in 2020.

  • Trump alluded to the news on his social network Truth Social when he ‘ReTruthed’ a post from attorney Mike Davis.

• United’s Starlink-powered Wi-Fi is the end of airplane mode

  • The carrier announced that Starlink-powered Wi-Fi will debut with United Airlines next Thursday, May 15.

  • Elon Musk's system is being rolled out across United's regional United Express jets before being fitted to all the carrier's long-haul planes.

  • United claimed that Starlink will unlock ‘an incredible onboard experience for customers’.

BUSINESS

• Aramco profit drops as uncertainty hits oil markets

  • Oil giant Saudi Aramco on Sunday reported a drop of 4.6 percent in its first-quarter net profits with lower sales and higher operating costs.

  • Profits fell due to ‘lower revenue and other income related to sales as well as higher operating costs.’

  • Net income for the first quarter of the year came in at $26.01B compared to $27.27B for the same period in 2024.

• Toyota faces the biggest hit from Trump tariffs among auto companies

  • Toyota Motor Corp. is the auto industry’s biggest loser when it comes to projected losses from US President Donald Trump’s trade war.

  • While Toyota has increased local production to more than half of sales in the country, it still relies on imports of key vehicle parts and models.

  • The huge tariff hit reflects the company’s decision to hold the line on sticker prices at US dealers and production volumes at its 11 factories.

• US Commerce Secretary Lutnick says China talks aimed at lowering trade tensions

  • Beijing and Washington have both hailed the progress made at the end of a weekend of closed-door discussions in Switzerland.

  • He Lifeng also lauded what he called ‘important progress’ in the trade talks with the US.

  • Trump had posted on his social network, Truth Social, that the discussions had been ‘very good’.

MARKETS

WORLD

• Albania votes as PM Rama seeks fourth term, promising EU integration

  • Albanians cast their ballots in the general election, with Prime Minister Edi Rama seeking an unprecedented fourth term.

  • Nearly 3.7 million Albanians, including hundreds of thousands living abroad, were eligible to vote.

  • Celibashi said, “The election was generally conducted in line with the required norms and standards.”

• Hamas says it will release the last U.S. hostage from Gaza

  • Hamas said on Sunday that it would release the last American hostage held in Gaza after discussions with the U.S. over a cease-fire.

  • Hamas said Israeli-American Edan Alexander ‘will be released as part of steps aimed at achieving a cease-fire, and allowing humanitarian aid.’

  • It didn’t make clear what it would specifically receive in return for Alexander’s release.

• Poland blames Russian intelligence for arson attack on Warsaw shopping center last year

  • A massive fire that destroyed a large shopping center in Warsaw last year was the result of arson ordered by Russian intelligence services.

  • The fire broke out on May 12, 2024, in the Marywilska 44 shopping center that housed some 1,400 shops and service points.

  • In a joint statement, Justice Minister Adam Bodnar and Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said the May 12, 2024, blaze gutted 1,400 shops.

CONTENT

• How Palantir built the ultimate founder factory

  • Nabeel S. Qureshi, a former Palantir engineer, delves into the transformative power of AI in reshaping industries and daily life.

  • He shares firsthand experiences from his tenure at Palantir, highlighting how data-driven decisions can revolutionize business strategies.

  • Furthermore, Qureshi explores the ethical considerations and future implications of AI integration, offering a balanced perspective.

• Does quantum theory violate the speed of light?

  • Claudia de Rham, João Magueijo, and Tim Maudlin debate whether the speed of light is an absolute limit.

  • Ever since Einstein's special theory of relativity in 1905, it has been a central pillar of science that the speed of light is an absolute fixed limit.

  • Researchers argue that Einstein's general theory of relativity never prohibited faster-than-light travel in the first place.

• Meet the man who made $ 200 M+ by copying Warren Buffett

  • Shaan Puri sits down with value investor Mohnish Pabrai to break down the mindset and strategies behind turning $10K into $ 1 M.

  • Pabrai shares timeless principles like keeping things simple and understanding the difference between risk and uncertainty.

  • He emphasizes focusing deeply on a narrow niche, learning from failure, and keeping a personal ‘owner’s manual’ to guide decisions.

FUTURISM

• Amazon’s Vulcan robots now stow items faster than humans

  • Amazon's new Vulcan robot can stow around 300 items per hour, outperforming average human workers.

  • Vulcan uses advanced planning to decide the best placement for each item in real time.

  • While top human stowers still pack faster and more densely, the gap is closing quickly.

• Spanish firm launches lunar navigation system

  • GMV has unveiled a GPS-like navigation system for the moon that aims to make lunar missions as intuitive as a drive across town.

  • Called LUPIN, the project is part of a programme by the European Space Agency to test new positioning, navigation.

  • This also includes timing techniques as interest in lunar surface exploration picks up again, for scientific research, or potential mining.

• Walgreens doubles down on prescription-filling robots to cut costs, free up pharmacists amid turnaround

  • Walgreens is expanding its use of robotic prescription-filling centers, aiming to automate up to 50% of its prescription volume by 2025.

  • This shift allows pharmacists to focus more on patient care services, such as vaccinations and health consultations, enhancing their role in healthcare delivery.

  • The automation initiative is part of Walgreens' broader strategy to modernize operations, reduce costs, and compete with online pharmacies.

EXTRAS

• Whoop backpedals on its paid upgrade whoops

  • After debuting its Whoop 5.0 fitness tracker, users were angered to find it had reneged on a promise of free hardware upgrades.

  • In a new Reddit post, the company now says users who have more than 12 months left on their subscription can get the Whoop 5.0 for free.

  • Those with ‘more than 12 months remaining’ are ‘eligible for a free upgrade to WHOOP 5.0 on Peak,’ one of its new subscription offerings.

• Newark airport suffers another tech outage

  • A technology outage took out radar and communications for Newark Liberty International Airport’s controllers briefly Friday morning.

  • The outage at the Philadelphia air-traffic control facility occurred Friday at 3:55 a.m. ET, and lasted for around 90 seconds.

  • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday outlined a plan to rebuild the U.S. air-traffic control system.

• Trump's plan to acquire a Qatari 747 for Air Force One raises ethical issues

  • The Trump administration is set to accept a luxury plane from the Qatari royal family that will be retrofitted and used as Air Force One.

  • The news comes as President Donald Trump embarks Monday on his first major foreign trip, which includes a stop in Doha, Qatar.

  • A Qatari official said the plane is being gifted from the Qatari Ministry of Defense to the Pentagon as a government-to-government transaction.

AND MORE

• Bloomberg’s Gurman teases a mostly glass, curved iPhone for 2027.

• Texas secures $1.38 billion settlement with Google over data privacy.

• Giant Bomb announced it is now an independent, employee-owned entity.

• Nintendo denies use of AI Imagery in 'Mario Kart World' on Switch 2.

• The 2025 Salary Report is here—get the insights.*

• How to turn on Lockdown Mode for your iPhone and Mac.

• With Rosetta Stone, you can explore 25 languages on your own schedule.*

• CATL to bar some US funds from the world’s biggest listing of 2025.