by Raphael Dudler | May 27, 2026 | gafam watch
The Musk vs. Altman trial is over — and OpenAI won. On May 18, the advisory jury sided with OpenAI, finding Musk’s claims barred by a three-year statute of limitations. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers immediately adopted the verdict. Musk called it a “technicality” and vowed to appeal. But the trial’s most consequential revelation came from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella — who testified under oath that by June 2026, Microsoft will have spent over $100 billion on OpenAI. gafam.ai’s complete analysis of the verdict, the testimony and what comes next.
by Raphael Dudler | May 26, 2026 | gafam watch
The most consequential AI lawsuit in history goes to trial this week. Elon Musk vs. Sam Altman — challenging OpenAI’s conversion from nonprofit to for-profit entity — begins jury selection in a San Francisco federal court. Microsoft’s $13 billion investment and Amazon’s $50 billion commitment are directly implicated. A Musk victory could force OpenAI to return billions in assets to nonprofit control. The European implications reach from Brussels to the boardrooms of every GAFAM company that has bet on OpenAI’s commercial future.
by Raphael Dudler | May 25, 2026 | gafam watch
Wedbush Securities published a landmark note this week: 2026 is year three of a 10-year AI revolution cycle — and the inflection point where infrastructure investment transforms into monetization. Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft are identified as the primary beneficiaries. Massive AI spending from governments, Asia and the Middle East is also forecast. gafam.ai examines what Wall Street’s most bullish AI forecast means for European investors, enterprises and regulators.
by Raphael Dudler | May 24, 2026 | gafam watch
The week of May 18–24, 2026 will be remembered as the moment AI stopped being a tool that answers questions and became a system that takes action — specifically, commercial action. Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol signed Meta, Microsoft, Stripe, Klarna and Affirm as partners for end-to-end agentic checkout. Amazon’s Alexa for Shopping buys at third-party retailers. Microsoft’s Copilot executes tasks across enterprise workflows. And Zuckerberg admitted most AI agents aren’t ready for his mother. gafam.ai’s Sunday analysis of the week that changed AI commerce forever.
by Raphael Dudler | May 21, 2026 | gafam watch
OpenAI has introduced a self-serve Ads Manager platform that allows advertisers to create, manage and optimise campaigns directly inside ChatGPT. The rollout targets $2.5 billion in ad revenue in 2026 and $100 billion annually by 2030 — a direct assault on Google and Meta’s combined $400 billion advertising business. The platform integrates with Dentsu, Omnicom, Publicis, WPP, Adobe and Criteo. This is the most significant threat to GAFAM’s advertising dominance since the smartphone era.
by Raphael Dudler | May 20, 2026 | gafam watch
Today, May 20, Meta begins executing its 8,000 layoffs — 10% of its global workforce. LinkedIn is cutting 5% of staff this week. Amazon has eliminated 30,000 corporate roles across six months. More than 103,000 tech employees have lost their jobs in 2026 — approaching the total for all of 2025 in just five months. Google I/O is celebrating the AI future. On the same day, the human cost of that future is arriving in employees’ inboxes.
