Axios

Elon Musk moved to dismiss his breach of contract lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman after accusing them of abandoning the company's founding agreement to pursue AI research for the good of humanity rather than profit.

Why it matters: The withdrawal ends a months-long legal battle between Musk and the company he co-founded in 2015 but left after a disagreement over control of the company.

Apple shares reversed course from yesterday to close at a new record following a slew of bullish Wall Street takes on the company's AI announcements.

Why it matters: Today's 7.3% pop suggests many investors believe that Apple's AI strategy may help reinvigorate sales of its single most important device, the iPhone.

The public's sentiment toward electric vehicles is deteriorating.

Why it matters: EV companies like Tesla, Rivian and Lucid — plus automakers like GM, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz — have staked their success on a future fueled by little or no gasoline.

By the numbers: 63% of adults say it's unlikely or very unlikely that they will buy an EV for their next vehicle, up from 51% in 2022, according to a new AAA survey of 1,152 Americans.

Golden Goose is searching for a golden goose.

State of play: The Italian shoe company — which sells purposely scuffed sneakers that Taylor Swift has helped to popularize — is planning an IPO that would value the company at up to $2 billion, Reuters reports.

• With shoes on sale for more than $500 a pair, Golden Goose is aiming to go public on the Euronext Milan stock exchange on June 21, MarketWatch writes.

Yes, but: The company was initially targeting a valuation closer to $3 billion, Bloomberg says.

Bankruptcy is supposed to provide American individuals and businesses with a way to escape crushing debts, but one expert believes it's become an unjust — and often racist — system.

Why it matters: Bankruptcy is so foundational to America's economic system that the nation's founders enshrined it in the U.S. constitution, giving Congress the power to allow burdened debtors to shed creditors.

Shari Redstone's National Amusements has ended deal discussions with David Ellison's Skydance Media, the firm announced Tuesday afternoon.

Why it matters: Redstone's merger talks with Skydance was seen as lifeline for Paramount Global, the struggling entertainment giant that National Amusements controls.

The number of partisan-backed outlets designed to look like impartial news outlets has officially surpassed the number of real, local daily newspapers in the U.S., according to a new analysis.

Why it matters: Many of those sites are targeted to swing states — a clear sign that they're designed to influence politics.

By the numbers: There are least 1,265 websites identified as being backed by dark money or are intentionally masquerading as local news sites for political purposes, according to a new report from NewsGuard, a misinformation tracking company.

Fox Nation, the subscription streaming service from Fox News, plans to release a new Kevin Costner show in the first quarter of 2025, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The service offers Costner and other Hollywood stars a platform for passion projects about topics like faith, outdoor living and true crime that are targeted to Americans in the middle of the country.

• That focus has proven successful for Costner, who has recently struggled to capture a broad audience at the box office.
• Costner's $100 million independently financed Western epic "Horizon," for example, only made $12 million in its domestic debut last week.

More than 90% of advertising will be AI-enabled by 2029, three years earlier than originally anticipated by GroupM — one of the world's largest ad-buying agencies — per a new projection out today.

• The vast majority of advertising revenue (69.5%) is already AI-enabled as of this year.

Why it matters: The rapid adoption of new consumer-facing generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, has put more pressure on the advertising industry to create personalized experiences for consumers.

LinkedIn is testing an AI assistant for Premium members, Axios has learned. The product leverages Microsoft's AI technology to prompt users to chat with an AI assistant to learn more about a particular company or topic.

Why it matters: It's the job site's first major AI product targeted broadly to consumers instead of enterprise customers, like recruiters.

• Other social networks, such as Snapchat and Meta's Instagram, debuted AI-powered assistant features last year.

Catch up quick: LinkedIn rolled out a set of AI-driven tools for recruiters and job seekers last year, including AI-assisted candidate discovery and an AI-powered coaching feature.

Warner Bros. Discovery is attempting a fourth-quarter comeback in its bid to keep NBA TV rights.

Why it matters: Losing the NBA would be an existential threat for WBD's TNT and could cost the network millions in carriage fees, Axios' Tim Baysinger writes.

Zoom in: WBD continues to negotiate with the NBA, with talks centered around a smaller TV package than it's had in the past, according to two sources with knowledge of the discussions.

• The WBD package could include some playoff games and take local games from regional sports networks, according to Puck.

The big picture: Many pro and collegiate leagues have expanded their media partnerships as tech giants like Amazon, YouTube and Apple descend onto the scene with huge wads of cash.

Conservative TV network Newsmax said it's planning to go public and launched a $225 million private placement, it said in a regulatory filing yesterday.

The big picture: Conservative companies see a financial opportunity in tapping into retail investment interest on the public market.

• Shares in former President Trump's publicly traded media company, which houses his app Truth Social, are up 32% since the company went public in March, despite the fact that the company continues to lose a lot of money.
• In an investor presentation, Newsmax quoted Trump saying, "You like Newsmax, I like it too ... Newsmax has been really good ... people are watching it ... it's terrific."

Variety editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh has landed more on-the-record interviews with former President Trump (6) than any other reporter since he left office, a testament to Setoodeh's tenacity and also Trump's penchant for coverage as a reality star, not a politician.

Why it matters: There have been dozens of books published about the former president, but few have explored his psyche as it relates to Hollywood stardom.

Driving the news: "Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass," provides a detailed account — mostly in Trump's own words — about how his experience hosting "The Apprentice" on NBC created his media template that boosted his political career.

Fox Nation, the subscription streaming service from Fox News, plans to release a new Kevin Costner show in the first quarter of 2025, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The service offers Costner and other Hollywood stars a platform for passion projects about topics like faith, outdoor living and true crime that are targeted to Americans in the middle of the country.

LinkedIn is testing an AI assistant for Premium members, Axios has learned. The product leverages Microsoft's AI technology to prompt users to chat with an AI assistant to learn more about a particular company or topic.

Why it matters: It's the job site's first major AI product targeted broadly to consumers instead of enterprise customers, like recruiters.

The number of partisan-backed outlets designed to look like impartial news outlets has officially surpassed the number of real, local daily newspapers in the U.S., according to a new analysis.

Why it matters: Many of those sites are targeted to swing states — a clear sign that they're designed to influence politics.

Conservative TV network Newsmax said it's planning to go public and launched a $225 million private placement.

The big picture: Conservative companies see a financial opportunity in tapping into retail investment interest on the public market.

If Tesla loses its momentous shareholder vote on CEO Elon Musk's $56 billion pay package on Thursday — an outcome that's entirely possible — then Musk will suffer a very bruised ego. Don't expect him to leave the company, however.

Why it matters: Musk is Tesla's largest shareholder, which gives him roughly 75 billion reasons to root for the stock's continued health. On top of that, Tesla lies at the heart of Musk's web of companies. Were Musk to leave the carmaker, that would cause serious damage to the rest of his $200 billion fortune.

The big picture: Musk uses Tesla engineers at X, will use Tesla's trove of driving data at his AI startup, and reportedly uses Tesla's AI chips wherever in his empire he wants to redirect them.

• More broadly, as Musk's only public company, Tesla gives Musk a degree of liquidity and funding that he can't find anywhere else in his empire.

Where it stands: Elon Musk owns about 13% of Tesla, but he wants to own 25%. Reinstating his pay award from 2018 — which was deemed illegal by a Delaware court — would close about half of the gap but still leave Musk wanting a huge new pay package this year.

• A shareholder vote supporting reinstatement might persuade the Delaware judge to give Musk his money back — or it might not.
• If shareholders vote no on Musk's pay, on the other hand, that will send a very clear message that his ambitions are unrealistic and will never pass shareholder muster.

Between the lines: Tesla chair Robyn Denholm has told shareholders that the pay award is necessary "to keep Elon focused on Tesla." But it's not entirely clear that shareholders want Elon focused on Tesla.

• After all, another of Musk's companies, SpaceX, has become hugely valuable while largely running itself and taking up a relatively small slice of Musk's attention.
• Tesla, on the other hand, is struggling. Musk's personal obsession, the Cybertruck, is a national joke; its Supercharger team was laid off in April; and Cadillac's Lyriq EV is set to outsell Tesla's Model X this year.

The bottom line: A "no" vote that leaves Musk in charge of Tesla but focusing his attention elsewhere might be the best of both worlds, allowing Tesla the stock to retain the Musk premium while also allowing Tesla the carmaker to avoid more distractions like the ill-fated Cybertruck.

Restaurants are placing big, experimental bets on robots that stir-fry, flip burgers, mix drinks, cook ramen, bake pizza, deliver meals to diners and whisk away the dirty dishes.

• But the droids may not be ready for prime time just yet.

The world's largest convenience store is now open in Luling, Texas, with 120 fuel pumps, a massive 75,000 square feet store and the "world's cleanest bathrooms."

Why it matters: Texas-based Buc-ee's — renowned for huge locations and super-clean bathrooms — has developed a cult-like following across the South.

The Port of Baltimore's main shipping channel fully reopened on Monday after a massive cleanup effort following the Francis Scott Key Bridge's deadly collapse.

The big picture: Traffic had been restricted in the port, one of the busiest in the U.S., since the bridge collapsed and killed six construction workers on March 26.

The WNBA announced Monday that May finished with the basketball league's highest attended opening month in 26 years and its most-watched start of season across all the networks ever.

Why it matters: The star power of Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky's Angel Reese helped drive the historic interest — something that the WNBA underscored in its statement announcing the record.