Good morning. It's Thursday, April 30, and we're covering: Musk’s courtroom clash with OpenAI, the rise of AI in healthcare (with doctors still in the loop), and Anthropic's potential leap to $900B.

→ Yesterday’s poll results at the bottom.

Anthropic Eyes $900B Valuation, Could Match OpenAI In Months
Anthropic has received multiple preemptive offers totaling $40-50 billion at an $850-900 billion valuation, more than doubling its $380 billion mark from February. The company's annual revenue run rate has jumped from roughly $9 billion at the end of 2025 to over $30 billion this month, with insiders putting the current pace closer to $40 billion.

Google Cloud Tops $20B As Backlog Doubles
Alphabet's cloud unit posted $20 billion in Q1 revenue, up 63% year-over-year, but the more striking number is a backlog that doubled in three months to $462 billion. Products built on Google's generative AI models grew nearly 800% year-over-year, Gemini Enterprise climbed 40% quarter-over-quarter, and API token throughput hit 16 billion per minute.

SpaceX Ties Musk Pay To Mars Colony
A CEO compensation plan hinges not on revenue or profit, but on putting 1 million people on Mars and building massive space-based data centers. SpaceX approved a pay package for Elon Musk awarding up to 200 million super-voting shares if the company reaches a $7.5 trillion valuation and establishes a permanent Mars colony. Additional awards include 60.4 million shares tied to operating space data centers delivering 100 terawatts of compute capacity.

DeepSeek And Moonshot AI Merger Rumors
A potential merger rumor draws more attention for what it signals about state-influenced consolidation than for any official announcement. Posts circulating online claim DeepSeek and Moonshot AI could combine, echoing past mergers like CRRC Corporation formed from CNR and CSR in 2015. Neither company has confirmed discussions, but the speculation lands amid intensifying global AI competition and tightening U.S. export controls.

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Google and Meta are seeing a sharp rise in digital advertising revenue as artificial intelligence automates ad creation, targeting, and performance optimization. Since the debut of tools built on technologies similar to ChatGPT in 2022, AI-driven ad sales have grown from $1 billion to $35 billion in 2025 and are projected to reach $56 billion in 2026. Companies report lower marketing costs and improved results, prompting increased ad spending and reinforcing the dominance of the largest platforms.

The shift is also changing how ads are bought and managed, with AI systems now deciding which audiences to target and how campaigns run. → Continue reading here. (Paywall)

Elon Musk testified on April 28, 2026, in a federal court in Oakland, California, alleging that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman conspired to turn OpenAI from a nonprofit into a profit-driven business, enriching themselves and partner Microsoft. Musk, an OpenAI co-founder, argued he backed the organization to “benefit humanity” and warned the case could set a precedent for misuse of charitable entities.

OpenAI’s legal team countered that Musk supported a for-profit structure early on and is now suing to hinder a competitor to his AI firm, xAI. The testimony highlighted deep disagreements over OpenAI’s origins, governance, and shift away from open-source principles. → Read the full article here.

Sharing what everyone said tomorrow.

Experts say artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly capable in healthcare, but should complement—not replace—doctors. Alex Zhavoronkov said consumer-facing AI can handle basic health questions and sometimes match or exceed doctors in limited tasks, potentially saving time and improving access. Companies including OpenAI and Amazon launched health tools in January 2026 that integrate medical data to offer personalized guidance, though not diagnosis or treatment.

Other leaders, including Shreehas Tambe, cautioned that improper use or lack of expertise could lead to errors, emphasizing the need for human oversight. The technology is also accelerating drug discovery—cutting early-stage timelines from over four years to about 18 months. → Read the full article here.

Google TV Adds AI Creation Tools: Google TV introduces image and video generation via Nano Banana and Veo, voice-powered Google Photos search, stylized slideshows, and a personalized YouTube Shorts feed on home screens.

Firestorm Labs Raises $82M: Firestorm Labs secures $82 million in Series B to scale its containerized xCell manufacturing units. Each unit uses HP industrial 3D printers to produce configurable drone systems in under 24 hours.

Google Adds 25M Subscriptions: Alphabet added 25 million paid subscriptions in Q1 to reach 350 million across its services, with YouTube and Google One leading the growth.

Scout AI Raises $100M for Military Models: Scout AI secured $100 million to train “Fury,” a vision-language-action system powering autonomous vehicles and drones, targeting logistics and potential weapons deployment.

EU AI Rule Talks Stall Again: EU countries and lawmakers failed to agree on revised AI Act rules after 12 hours, with disputes over industry exemptions delaying changes aimed at easing compliance burdens.

The image from yesterday’s newsletter was in fact real. Over 55% of you thought it was AI.

Thanks for reading. See you next time!

— Matthew Berman, Nick Wentz & the Forward Future Team