The great AI wars: Musk vs Altman, part deux

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

The great AI wars: Musk vs Altman, part deux

The context: Once upon a time, OpenAI was a non-profit organization determined to develop AI that did not do evil. Musk was one of its co-founders—until he left in a snit. Musk says he opposed co-founder Sam Altman’s plans to turn OpenAI into a for-profit company. Altman says he was mad because he wanted to be CEO. In any case, Musk has since sued OpenAI in court—to block the conversion.

What happened now: A consortium of investors led by Elon Musk is offering $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI. It has submitted the bid to the non-profit’s board. Musk’s argument is that the non-profit OpenAI is being cheated by its soon-to-be-incarnated private avatar. The Information offers this neat summary:

It zooms in on an apparent weakness in the conversion: what the nonprofit gets out of it. As we’ve reported, after the conversion, the nonprofit would end up with a minority stake in the OpenAI business of around 25%. Right now that business is raising money at a $260 billion valuation, which implies a 25% stake is worth $65 billion. As Marc Toberoff, the lawyer representing the Musk group, said in a press release today, the nonprofit board’s plan is to give up “control over OpenAI’s entire for-profit business in exchange for some minority share of a new, consolidated for-profit entity. Who on Earth would make that trade?”

Naturally, Altman calls Musk’s legal claims “baseless and overreaching”—but it opens the door to a new offensive front at a most inconvenient time for Altman—who is scrambling to raise money for the soon-to-be private company—valued in the billions. FYI: OpenAI also just announced an in-house chip that will offer an alternative to Nvidia—which, if true, would be a very big deal. (Wall Street Journal)

Man of steel: Trump’s got new tariffs

Another day, another Trump-ian terror tariff threat—this time, it’s a flat 25% duty on all steel and aluminium imports. They come as a rude shock for Canada and Mexico—which supply the bulk of US metal imports. The two countries seemed to have dodged the bullet last month—but now find themselves back in the midst of a trade war. Expect retaliation.

What this means: The US steel industry is delighted but companies that rely on steel are not—this includes manufacturers of cars, cans machinery and planes. Also this: “Taxpayers were expected to pay more than $900,000 a year for every job saved or created by Trump’s steel tariffs.”

But, but, but: Trump’s real target may be China—which doesn’t directly export to the US—but to its allies like Canada and Mexico. China has been producing more steel than ever—and is now exporting it to the rest of the world as its economy slows:

Desperate to avoid shutting down, China’s mills have responded with a surge in steel exports to countries all over the world. They have accepted lower and lower prices for their steel over the last several years, triggering a global erosion in prices.

The falling prices have hurt the American steel industry—but also those in other countries, including India.

What it means for India: We are not even in the top five exporters of metal to the US. Our biggest fear is that China may now start “dumping” its cheap steel in the Indian market:

[T]he Ministry of Steel in India had last year asked the Union Ministry of Commerce to impose a 25% duty on steel products, citing a 80% surge in steel imports from China to 1.61 million tonnes between January-July 2024… Over the past 12 months, high steel imports have already dampened prices and earnings of steel producers in India, said Hui Ting Sim, assistant vice president at Moody’s Ratings.

Point to note: When Trump slapped these high tariffs on steel during his first term, there was “a sudden and sharp increase in volume of imports” into India. Indian Express has that angle. New York Times has more on China. (Quartz)

Lots of AI action in Paris

France is hosting the AI Action Summit—co-chaired by President Emmanuel Macron and our very own Prime Minister Modi. The main aim is to make sure that the rest of the world doesn’t get left behind in the AI race:

France sees the summit as a crucial moment to spur AI investment in Europe, to get consumers on board with the fast-moving technology and to position Europe as a top contender — not just a leading regulator — in a global competition where the United States and China are so far the biggest players.

As for India: Ever since China rolled out DeepSeek, there has been great heartburn in tech circles about our lack of investment and progress. The government recently picked ten Indian companies to help develop a domestic large language model—promising a “world class” AI model in the next 4-8 months. So New Delhi’s goal in Paris will be to nail down collabs with France and other high-flying attendees to make this happen. Indian Express has that piece. You can see the Modi-Macron lovefest below—which included this warm tweet in French, no less. (Reuters)

Also excellent to see: Macron released a hilarious deepfake vid of himself ahead of the summit… because why not? We love it!

The great uproar over Beerbiceps’ ick

The context: Popular podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia aka Beerbiceps has gone viral for asking perhaps the ickiest question ever asked on a public show: “Would you rather watch your parents have sex for the rest of your life, or would you join in once and stop it forever?” He pulled out this masterpiece on an episode of YouTube comedy roast show ‘India’s Got Latent’. Here’s the viral vid:

What happened now: It seems terrible taste is officially a crime in India. The Guwahati police has filed an FIR against all five judges of the show—which includes Allahbadia, Samay Raina, Ashish Chanchlani, Jaspreet Singh, and Apoorva Makhija. They are accused of “promoting obscenity and engaging in sexually explicit and vulgar discussion.” Mumbai police is looking into the matter as well. Unsurprisingly, Allahbadia posted an abject apology video:

Irony alert: Allahbadia has long courted popularity by picking on liberals—especially women—and carefully cultivated the establishment and its rightwing supporters. But now his only supporters are free speech advocates—while the likes of Devendra Fadnavis roast his un-sanskaari ways.

The really sad bit: The joke is an open rip-off—see below. (The Hindu)

All aboard for the Aero India show

Asia’s biggest air show is underway in Bangalore. Spread across a total area of over 42,000 sq metres, Aero India 2025 will host 900 exhibitors—including 150 foreign companies. FYI this is the biggest show yet. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was in town to inaugurate the event—and totally eff up traffic—and to offer this gem at the ceremony:

While Maha Kumbh is the Kumbh of introspection, Aero India is the Kumbh of research. While Maha Kumbh is focusing on internal strength, Aero India will centre on external strength. While Maha Kumbh showcases the culture of India, Aero India will display the power of India.

What makes it special: The show includes the most advanced stealth aircraft in the world—the Russian Su-57 and the American F-35 Lightning II. Ah, non-alignment at its best :) No prizes for guessing which one has the cheesy promo vid:

Washington, Moscow and Paris are fiercely competing to seal defence deals—hence the big showing. The Print has more on this three-way battle. (The Hindu)

what caught our eye

business & tech

The rupee was poised to hit a staggering all-time low of Rs 88—but "bounced back" to Rs 87.4750. The rupee remains Asia’s worst-performing currency year-to-date, despite RBI’s $77 billion intervention since September.
India will soon issue a new set of rules to determine how foreign companies’ profits derived from India will be taxed.
Jio’s Rs 189 recharge plan is back—28 days, 2GB data, unlimited calls, and more, but only via the MyJio app.
Over the next five years, Rolls-Royce will double its sourcing of engine parts—for its aerospace division—from Indian companies.
Big changes are afoot at Gucci—design chief Sabato de Sarno has been sacked, less than a week before the brand is set to release its annual report.
Getting a job at Infosys used to be a massive deal. But, but, but: for the 400 trainees laid off last Friday, it has been an experience from hell—with dreams shattered and careers left in limbo. Moneycontrol has more.

sports & entertainment

TIME Magazine has a must read on how Kendrick Lamar has rewritten the rules of the Super Bowl halftime show—thanks to his narrative, visual stagecraft, and sly political commentary.
New York Times has a good read on Netflix’s Oscar hopes unraveling as ‘Emilia Pérez’ sparks controversy, forcing the streamer into damage control.

health & environment

The government will soon introduce a grading system for private hospitals—ranking them as A+++, A++, or A+ based on patient care.
Elon’s DOGE has stormed the National Weather Agency, sparking fears that its ‘hostile takeover’ could gut weather forecasts, weaken cybersecurity, and leave forecasters in the dark—literally.
Earth’s inner core isn’t just spinning backward—it’s changing shape, and scientists say it’s like something out of science fiction.
The protein boom isn’t fixing a deficiency—it’s fattening wallets and waistlines, as most of us are already eating too much.
The Conversation has a must-read—including a useful map—on the swarm of earthquakes hitting the Greek island of Santorini, causing the Greek government to declare a state of emergency, and forcing more than 13,000 of its 15,500 residents to flee.

as for the rest

Hamas halts hostage release “until further notice”, throwing a wrench into the fragile six-week truce and hopes for lasting peace.
The Telegraph has a good read on the sleepless nights, anger, and quiet defiance brewing among federal workers as Trump’s war on the bureaucracy silences their collective voice—until now.
The NIH just slashed indirect research funding to 15%, blindsiding universities and research institutes—leaving them scrambling to cover lab space, utilities, and admin costs, with some facing budget disasters.
Convicted rapist Dominique Pelicot may have more victims—police say DNA evidence links him to a 1999 attack, and he’s already confessed: “It is me.”
China’s marriage rates have hit a record low, divorces are climbing, and not even Beijing’s push for weddings and babies can stop young couples from saying, ‘No, thanks.’
Sri Lanka’s power grid met its match in a rogue monkey, triggering a nationwide blackout amidst sweltering heat.

Four things to see

One: British MP Rupert Lowe called for the removal of Bengali signage from London’s Whitechapel tube station. Lowe shared a photo of the bilingual sign on X and said: “This is London—the station name should be in English, and English only.” Point to note: Whitechapel’s Bengali signage, installed in 2022, honors the area’s Bangladeshi community—the largest in the UK. (The Hindu)

Two: OpenAI’s $14 million ad buy for ChatGPT was actually pretty cool—with a resemblance to Coinbase’s bouncing QR ad and the music video for Arctic Monkeys’ ‘Do I Wanna Know’. But only Altman would rank a chatbot as important to human evolution as fire or the wheel. Irony alert: This ad was created entirely by humans, not machines. FastCompany has lots more. Check out the ad below. Reminder: We shared our fave Super Bowl ads in Friday’s Headlines edition.

Three: Did you know that the Super Bowl has a much cuter cousin: Puppy Bowl—an annual event held on the very same day to promote puppy adoption. Games are fiercely contested—as you can see in this ‘tandem touchdown’ below. The Animal Planet handle has lots more adorable-ness.

Four: Apple has launched a prototype of an AI-powered table lamp that looks like the real-life version of the famous Pixar mascot—Luxo Jr. The lamp is programmed to act more life-like, for instance, confused and curious, with various states of “attention,” “attitude,” and “expression”. Here’s an example:

It knocks over some wooden blocks like a naughty cat. It follows a book around as it's moved so that it always shines light on the pages. It reacts to a person who's waving at it to show it where to turn. It behaves more like a cute and helpful pet than a cold and calculating robot.

See a video demo below. Gizmodo offers a glowing review. (CNET)