Axios PM

May 18, 2026
☕️ Happy Monday! Today's newsletter, edited by Alex Fitzpatrick, is 557 words, a 2-min. read. Thanks to Sheryl Miller for copy editing.
⚡️ Situational awareness: The White House believes Iran's latest proposal is insufficient to end the war, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.
- President Trump is expected to convene his top national security team in the Situation Room tomorrow to discuss military options. Go deeper.
1 big thing: Musk loses huge OpenAI suit

A federal jury unanimously ruled today that Elon Musk waited too long to bring his lawsuit against OpenAI and its top executives, Ina Fried and Madison Mills report.
- The jury deliberated for less than two hours.
Jurors also found that Musk's charitable trust claims against OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman, President Greg Brockman and Microsoft were barred by the statute of limitations.

💰 Musk was seeking up to $134 billion in damages and Altman's ouster from OpenAI, arguing that the company abandoned its founding nonprofit mission.
- He now appears unlikely to get either, with the judge affirming the jury's decision.
It's a staggering defeat for the Tesla chief in his showdown with Altman, in a case that threatened to upend the AI industry's power structure.
2. ⛳️ Scoop: LIV plans funding drive

LIV Golf is seeking to raise up to $250 million from new investors after losing support from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Axios' Dan Primack scoops.
💰 Prospective investors will be told that the full $250 million could get LIV to profitability within about 20 months.
- It could also raise less — around $150 million — and then bank on rising team values and a new media rights deal.
💵 LIV is still operating with remnant Saudi cash, but needs to close its new investment by October at the latest.
⛳️ What's next: The basic pitch is that LIV's former Saudi involvement turned off some potential sponsors, golfers and audiences.
3. ⚡️ Catch me up

- ⛑️ The World Health Organization is sending a team of experts and supplies to Congo amid an outbreak of an Ebola variant with no approved therapeutics or vaccines. Get the latest.
- 💰 President Trump settled his $10 billion IRS lawsuit in exchange for a new $1.776 billion DOJ fund to compensate people who claim they were targets of government "weaponization" during the Biden administration. It's an unprecedented, taxpayer-backed move that could benefit Jan. 6 defendants, among others. Go deeper ... Read the announcement.
- 🔌 U.S. power giants NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy announced plans to merge, marking the modern AI era's largest electricity deal by far and creating what the companies called the "world's largest regulated electric utility." Go deeper.
4. 🛒 1 for the road: Bed Bath & Beyond returns

The first dual-branded The Container Store x Bed Bath & Beyond location opened Saturday in Fort Worth, Axios' Naheed Rajwani-Dharsi reports from a weekend visit.
- The collab concept will be rolled out at all Container Store locations nationwide this year amid a merger uniting the two home goods companies.
Naheed tells us it was a "nice, nostalgic visit to see branding I never thought I'd see in stores again."

🎟️ Check your drawers, because the stores will honor old Bed Bath coupons.
- The company is even running a contest to see who has the oldest coupon. See inside.
🏪 Bed Bath & Beyond president Amy Sullivan tells Axios' Kelly Tyko: "We don't want people to think of this as a shop-in-shop."
- Instead, Sullivan says it's a "forever together, co-branded" concept. Go deeper.
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