Daily Brew // Morning Brew // Update

April 25, 2026

Happy Saturday. We know your schedule may feel a little light right now as it starts to warm up. But do not complain, or you will be cursed with four hometown wedding invites for June, an ill-planned lake house request for the Fourth of July, and a thousand “we should do a garage sale or something this summer” texts.

—Molly Liebergall, Matty Merritt, Sam Klebanov, Abby Rubenstein, Holly Van Leuven

In today’s newsletter, we’ll look at:

Musk v. Altman taking the future of AI to court
The DOJ dropping its criminal probe into Jerome Powell
The $100 landline parents love

MARKETS

Nasdaq

24,836.60

+1.63%

S&P

7,165.08

+0.80%

Dow

49,230.71

-0.16%

10-Year

4.310%

-1.0 bps

Bitcoin

$77,622.50

-0.34%

Intel

$82.54

+23.60%

Data is provided by

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 6:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean.

Markets: With US–Iran peace talks appearing to be back on, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at record highs yesterday. Intel had its best day since the shoulder-pad-heavy days of 1987 after its earnings report showed the chipmaker’s turnaround is coming together. That helped propel Nvidia, which rose enough to regain its $5 trillion value.

BILLIONAIRE BATTLE

These guys are finally going to fight…

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

…in court. A high-stakes California trial between Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is set to begin Monday with jury selection. It’s the culmination of a yearslong friends-to-enemies arc that could reconfigure the AI landscape.

The crux of the case: takesies backsies. Musk, an OpenAI co-founder and original funder, accuses Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman of breaking their vow to keep the ChatGPT maker as a nonprofit:

Musk claims the OpenAI squad “assiduously manipulated” him out of millions of dollars in donations by promising to develop AI more safely than “profit-driven tech giants” like Google and Microsoft (the latter, as OpenAI’s main partner, is also named in the lawsuit).
OpenAI calls Musk’s accusations “baseless” and “motivated by jealousy, regret for walking away from OpenAI, and a desire to derail a competing AI company.”

For context, Musk left OpenAI’s board in 2018 after failing to convince other founders to fold the AI startup into Tesla. The next year, Altman officially became CEO of OpenAI. Then, in 2023, Musk started xAI.

Now, Musk demands $100+ billion in damages—which he recently said he’d give to OpenAI’s nonprofit arm—the removal of Altman and Brockman, and the reversal of OpenAI’s recent for-profit restructuring.

Expect a courtroom drama

“We are about to witness the landing of the Hindenburg on the deck of the Titanic,” a corporate litigation expert told the Washington Post.

Drama is expected in part because Musk, Altman, Brockman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and several OpenAI insiders are slated to testify. Plus, court filings have already mentioned Big Tech tea, including:

Musk’s prior attendance at Burning Man.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg telling Musk that he’d remove “threatening” posts.
Musk calling Amazon founder Jeff Bezos “a bit of a tool.”

Looking ahead…if Musk prevails, OpenAI could be kneecapped right as it’s racing xAI to an IPO, handing a win to Musk’s AI startup, but potentially also to Google, Anthropic, and China’s DeepSeek.—ML

READER POLL

Do you think Elon Musk or Sam Altman is right in the lawsuit over OpenAI’s values?

Elon, it should’ve stayed a nonprofit.
Altman, OpenAI needs money to grow.
Neither, nobody wins when tech titans fight.

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WORLD

Tour de headlines

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The DOJ dropped its criminal probe of Jerome Powell. The Department of Justice ended its investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the cost of building renovations, with US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro saying the Fed’s internal watchdog was looking into the matter instead (it has already done so previously and found no wrongdoing, per NBC). That’s almost as good news for Powell as it is for his Trump-picked successor, Kevin Warsh, who will now likely be swiftly confirmed. Critics had decried the investigation as politically motivated, and, with Powell’s term as chair ending on May 15, Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, vowed to block Warsh’s confirmation until the probe ended.

White House sending team to Pakistan for talks with Iran. Although peace negotiations have stalled recently amid a continued standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, the White House confirmed plans to send Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to Pakistan today for direct talks with Iran. However, Vice President JD Vance, who led the last round of talks, will not go this time. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said in an X post yesterday that the Iranian delegation would meet with Pakistani officials, but not directly with the Americans. Meanwhile, the US announced sanctions yesterday on a Chinese oil refinery and about 40 shipping companies involved in transporting Iranian oil.

Maine governor vetoed US’ first statewide data center ban. With backlash to AI data centers growing, Maine almost became the first state to ban them after state lawmakers approved an 18-month moratorium on new data center construction. Instead, Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat who’s currently running in a tough Senate primary, vetoed the measure, saying it would economically harm the state by shutting down a proposed project on the site of a defunct paper mill. Although the bill passed with unanimous support from members of Mills’s party, that’s not enough to override her veto. Meanwhile, other states and locales are considering curbing data centers.—AR

IS YOUR REFRIGERATOR RUNNING?

Kids are chatting old school

Tin Can

The next generation will be expert prank callers: There’s a monthslong waitlist for a screenless, landline-inspired device for kids called Tin Can. The pared-down phone has only been on the market for a year and has already sold hundreds of thousands of units, the startup that sells it told Bloomberg yesterday.

Tech that parents actually like? The wi-fi-enabled phone costs $100, and offers free calls between Tin Cans and to emergency services. Its most popular plan, according to the company, is an extra $10/month that lets users call non-Tin Can phones:

The phone was created by Chet Kittleson, a father of three, who says he felt exhausted by the choice between letting his kids get a smartphone or managing all their playdates with friends.
His company has since raised an initial $3.5 million, followed by a $12 million seed round in December led by Greylock Partners.

Tin Can says its fastest-growing market segment is bulk orders from schools. This month, the Nativity Parish school in Kansas delivered free Tin Cans to 200+ families of elementary school students.

Big picture: The retro device has attracted parents as lawmakers around the world pitch social media bans for kids. Just last month, Meta and YouTube lost a huge social media addiction trial a day after Meta lost a different child safety case.—MM

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ICYMI

Have you heard...

Here’s everything that didn’t make it into this week’s newsletters but we immediately sent to the group chat.

An AI-powered table tennis bot built by Sony is beating some elite human players at their own game, in what’s being seen as a milestone for robotics. To think we spent all these years fearing a Terminator-like uprising when the true threat was a Marty Supreme android.

Alex Cooper has more to worry about than just her public feud with influencer Alix Earle, as employees are reportedly leaving Cooper’s media company, Unwell, in droves. We’re waiting to form an opinion until consulting a third blonde woman named Alyx, Alexx, or Sasha.

Atlantic salmon that were exposed to cocaine’s main byproduct swam faster and nearly twice as far in a week as their sober compatriots, according to new research on the drug’s pollution in waterways. Thanks, science, now we know that.

In an effort to create truly smoke-free generations, the UK passed a bill that will ban anyone born after 2008 from ever buying cigarettes, which has probably made young Brits realize that they need to be nicer to their older siblings.

Netflix has started production on a new live-action Scooby-Doo series that will focus on the gang’s teenage origins. The streaming service released first looks for Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy, but not Scooby, who might’ve been busy smoking different rigarettes than the ones British youths can’t have anymore.—ML

NEWS

What else is brewing

Google plans to invest up to $40 billion in Anthropic, as tech companies keep spending on AI like Cher Horowitz let loose at the mall. Yes, even.
The FDA said it will fast-track its review of psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, and methylone, an MDMA-like molecule, after President Trump signed an order directing it to speed up approvals for psychedelic treatments.
Citadel blasted NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani for calling out its CEO Ken Griffin’s $238 million apartment in his pitch for a pied-à-terre tax on pricey second homes.
A federal appeals court rejected President Trump’s order suspending asylum applications at the US–Mexico border, likely teeing up a Supreme Court fight.
Michael, a controversial biopic of Michael Jackson whose narrative ends before the pop star was accused of abusing children, raked in cash with previews and is expected to dominate this weekend’s box office.

This week’s question

What was the coolest field trip you went on in your school days?

Here’s Sam’s answer to get the juices flowing: “My high school chemistry class toured the MIT Nuclear Research Reactor, located in the heart of Cambridge, MA. I was really impressed by all the heavy-duty equipment there, but also worried about tripping and falling on a control panel.”

Submit your response here.

RECS

Wear: A basic black tee for $21.**

Travel tip: “Deadzoning” can help you relax for real on your next vacay.

Play: 1D chess is a new take on an old game.

Clean up: How to clean your books—without ruining them.

Forget 10k steps: If you’re trying to lose weight, the viral Japanese walking trend proves this one-size-fits-all rule is outdated. Take this quiz to calculate your optimal steps to finally move the scale.*

^{*A message from our sponsor. **This is a product recommendation from our writers. When you buy through this link, Morning Brew may earn a commission.}

PLAY

Brew Crossword: Your sample clue from our biggest puzzle of the week is, “Only place where Vidalia onions are grown.” Play the Crossword here.

Open House

Welcome to Open House, the only newsletter section that should absolutely never throw stones. We’ll give you a few facts about a listing and you try to guess the price.

Zillow

Today’s glass house is in Surry, ME, right off the beach of Union River Bay. The 3,602-square-foot home was built on concrete pillars, and the decks actually fold up to act as storm shutters during the winter. Amenities include:

6 beds, 4 baths
Detached garage with office and shop area
Knight lights

How much for the coastal art museum?

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Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: compatriots, meaning “people from the same country or companions.” Thanks to Bill from Rochester, NY, for being a chum and giving us a suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.

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