More tech news below. \u2014Andrew Nusca<\/p>\n
Want to send thoughts or suggestions to\u00a0Fortune Tech?\u00a0Drop a line\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Behold, the Googlebook Google<\/p>\n Let the low-priced laptop wars begin anew.<\/p>\n First came Apple\u2019s MacBook Neo, a $599 device announced in March. Now Google has revealed<\/a> a fresh lineup of laptops that it calls the Googlebook\u2014no, not the Chromebook\u2014in a sign it\u2019s working to tie its Android and ChromeOS into a unified operating system and give Apple stiffer competition as they both vie for cash-strapped customers.<\/p>\n But wait, aren\u2019t Chromebooks already cheap? Absolutely. You can pick up an Acer model for a bit over $200 right now. And that will remain the case for the foreseeable future, Google says.<\/p>\n But Google\u2019s new \u2018books, expected this fall, promise optimization for \u201cGemini Intelligence\u201d\u2014that\u2019s the familiar new name of its AI suite\u2014and \u201cperfect\u201d synchronicity with Google Android mobile devices. The writing\u2019s on the wall.<\/p>\n For now, details about the new lineup are sparse. We\u2019ll find out more on May 19 when Google I\/O, the big G\u2019s developer conference, begins.\u00a0<\/p>\n And though most of the watercooler chatter will be about the MacBook vs Googlebook horse race, the biggest question of all will be price. With a severe global memory shortage and ongoing international trade tensions, can anyone promise a low-margin electronic product without regretting it months later? \u2014AN<\/p>\n Elon Musk once demanded complete control of a proposed OpenAI for-profit arm<\/p>\n In the latest testimony from the ongoing Altman v. Musk trial, OpenAI\u2019s chief executive testified that Elon Musk in 2017 insisted he retain complete control over a proposed for-profit arm of OpenAI.<\/p>\n The vibes? \u201cExtremely uncomfortable,\u201d Sam Altman reportedly said<\/a> on the stand.<\/p>\n Musk only wanted control in the early days, but was unwilling to sign a contract formalizing it, Altman said. He added that Musk mused that he\u2019d pass that control on to his children if something were to happen to him\u2014a \u201chair-raising\u201d prospect for a lab committed to developing AI for the benefit of humanity.<\/p>\n The trial, of course, is centered on whether OpenAI abandoned its charitable founding mission as its for-profit arm fundraised record sums from Microsoft and others and its parent company restructured into a public-benefit corporation. OpenAI is today considered the world\u2019s most valuable private company.<\/p>\n Musk, an OpenAI cofounder and once its largest financial backer, is seeking tens of billions of dollars in damages, an unwinding of the restructuring that was completed in October, and the removal of Altman and president Greg Brockman from their posts.\u00a0<\/p>\n After Musk left OpenAI\u2019s board in 2018, he founded rival xAI, which in February merged with his SpaceX. Last year, Musk made an unsolicited $97 billion offer to control OpenAI as he and Altman traded barbs on social media. \u2014AN<\/p>\n Anthropic is reportedly fundraising at a $950 billion valuation<\/p>\n Speaking of the world\u2019s most valuable private companies\u2026<\/p>\n Anthropic, the Manchester United to OpenAI\u2019s Liverpool, is reportedly in talks<\/a> to raise between $30 billion and $50 billion in a round that would value the surging AI company at an astounding $950 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n (From whom, you ask? We don\u2019t yet know. But Anthropic\u2019s largest current investors include Amazon, Google, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, and Philippe Laffont\u2019s Coatue Management.)<\/p>\n That would allow Anthropic to\u2014for now\u2014leapfrog its rival to become the world\u2019s most valuable private company. OpenAI was last valued at $852 billion in March<\/a>.<\/p>\n Though investors have unquestionably focused their energies on a handful of competitors in the AI race, there\u2019s little doubt that they have invested record amounts\u2014an estimated $297 billion in the first three months of this year\u2014in AI companies. (That includes \u201cfour of the five largest deals ever recorded,\u201d the New York Times notes<\/a>. Dear me.)<\/p>\n How did a company co-founded by two OpenAI alums manage to catch up to the original firm? By focusing on the money. While OpenAI focused on its consumer chatbot ChatGPT and visions of artificial general intelligence (AGI), Anthropic developed tools that businesses with deep pockets were happy to use<\/a>\u2014among them Claude Code, which facilitates autonomous software development, and Mythos, an AI model that has proven potent at finding software vulnerabilities in record time.\u00a0 \u2014AN<\/p>\n More tech<\/p>\n \u2014Chip stocks drop.<\/a> Qualcomm, Intel, SanDisk, and Micron take hits as investor worries about inflation trigger a selloff amid a broader AI rally.<\/p>\n \u2014eBay rejects GameStop’s $56B takeover offer<\/a>, saying the unsolicited bid is \u201cneither credible nor attractive.\u201d (Ouch.)<\/p>\n \u2014xAI adds 19 gas turbines<\/a> to its Colossus 2 supercomputer in Memphis, Tenn., as it fights a lawsuit alleging Clean Air Act violations.<\/p>\n \u2014Waymo recalls about 3,800 robotaxis in the U.S.<\/a> Software issues caused one to drive onto a flooded road in San Antonio.<\/p>\n \u2014Samsung and a major labor union are at an impasse<\/a>. Without a pay deal, the South Korean union will strike for 18 days from May 21st.<\/p>\n![\"Google's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/google-googlebook-preview-hero-2026.jpeg\"\/)
<\/a>Google’s new Googlebook laptop.\u00a0<\/p>\n