AI Master's Blog

🔥 Top AI News — April 28, 2026

Published today, sourced from stories within the last 24 hours

1. OpenAI Misses Revenue & User Targets, AI Stocks Tumble

A Wall Street Journal bombshell report today revealed that OpenAI has missed multiple monthly revenue and user growth targets in early 2026. CFO Sarah Friar has reportedly warned colleagues that the company may struggle to fund its massive compute contracts if revenue doesn’t accelerate—putting her at odds with CEO Sam Altman over spending discipline. Altman and Friar issued a joint statement calling the report "ridiculous."

The market reaction was swift and brutal:

• Oracle fell 6%+ (it has a $300B, 5-year deal with OpenAI)
• CoreWeave dropped 7%
• Nvidia declined ~3-5%
• AMD slid 3-5%
• Broadcom and Qualcomm also fell
• SoftBank (major OpenAI investor) sank ~10% in Asia

S&P 500 futures were down 0.6% on AI spending concerns. OpenAI, valued at $852 billion after its March funding round, is racing toward an IPO later this year—making these missed targets especially damaging optics.

2. Musk vs. Altman Trial Kicks Off in Oakland

The landmark trial between Elon Musk and Sam Altman over OpenAI’s founding mission officially began today in Oakland federal court. Nine jurors were selected Monday, and opening statements commenced Tuesday.

Musk alleges that Altman and president Greg Brockman betrayed OpenAI’s original nonprofit mission—developing AI for humanity’s benefit—by converting it into a for-profit "wealth machine" valued at $852 billion. Musk is seeking more than $130 billion in damages. The trial could reshape how AI companies are structured and governed.

3. China Blocks Meta’s $2B Acquisition of AI Startup Manus

China’s National Development and Reform Commission announced Monday it is blocking Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of AI agent startup Manus, and ordering the parties to unwind the deal. The decision sends a chilling signal across the global AI landscape:

• Manus had already relocated from Beijing to Singapore and its employees had joined Meta—making a "unwind" practically difficult
• China has barred Manus’s two cofounders from leaving the country
• The move effectively kills the "Singapore-washing" strategy for Chinese AI startups seeking Western acquirers
• Beijing’s action is being described as "killing the chicken to scare the monkeys"—a warning to other Chinese founders considering similar deals

The decision highlights the accelerating US-China AI decoupling and raises new risks for cross-border tech deals.

4. OpenAI & Microsoft Revamp Partnership, End Revenue Sharing

On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a major restructuring of their landmark partnership:

• Microsoft will no longer pay revenue share to OpenAI for reselling its models on Azure
• OpenAI’s IP license to Microsoft becomes non-exclusive (through 2032)
• OpenAI can now serve customers on any cloud provider, including Amazon and Google
• Revenue share from OpenAI to Microsoft (20%) continues with a total cap through 2030
• Microsoft no longer needs to determine if OpenAI achieves AGI

The changes come as OpenAI has been diversifying its cloud relationships, including a major $50 billion Amazon partnership and a Qualcomm smartphone chip deal reported this week.

5. AI Capex Set to Hit $660 Billion This Year

Even as OpenAI’s revenue misses rattle investors, industry-wide AI capital expenditure is on track to reach a staggering $660 billion in 2026. The spending binge raises an existential question: can revenue growth keep pace with the massive compute buildout? Meta alone committed $48 billion to CoreWeave and Nebius for supplemental compute. Microsoft reports earnings this week with Azure, Copilot, and capex figures in sharp focus.

6. Nvidia Poaches Intel’s Chief Accounting Officer

In a telling talent move, Nvidia hired Intel’s corporate VP and Chief Accounting Officer Scott Gawel as its own CAO, replacing the retiring Donald Robertson. Gawel received a base salary of $800,000 plus $12.9 million in equity grants—a sign of Nvidia’s continued aggressive talent acquisition even as AI stocks face pressure.

7. DeepSeek V4: Market Reaction Subdued

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek previewed its next-generation V4 model last week, but market reaction has been notably subdued compared to its shock debut last year. The V4-Pro model processes over 1 million tokens (matching GPT-5.4 and Claude Opus 4.6) at a fraction of the cost—$1.74 per million input tokens versus much higher prices from Western competitors. DeepSeek is offering a 75% discount on V4-Pro through May 5 and slashed cache hit prices to 1/10 of launch price across its entire API lineup.

8. Qualcomm & OpenAI Partner on Smartphone Chips

Reports emerged Monday that OpenAI is working with Qualcomm on smartphone chips tied to the AI company’s hardware ambitions. The partnership signals OpenAI’s push beyond software into consumer devices—a strategic expansion that could reshape the mobile AI landscape.

📊 Key Market Moves Today (April 28):

• S&P 500 futures: -0.6%
• Oracle (ORCL): -6%+
• CoreWeave (CRWV): -7%
• SoftBank: -10% (Asia)
• Nvidia (NVDA): -3 to -5%
• AMD: -3 to -5%

Disclaimer: Published today, sourced from stories within the last 24 hours. Market data as of mid-morning April 28, 2026.