Welcome to AI Insider’s The Week Ahead in AI. See the key developments and events we’re watching April 26-May 2.
Weekend AI News Briefs
Elon Musk’s Years-long Legal Battle with OpenAI and Sam Altman Will Finally Head to Trial on Monday
Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI goes to trial Monday in California, where Musk alleges Sam Altman and other executives misled him about plans to shift OpenAI from a nonprofit to a for-profit business after he contributed more than $44 million to the company. Yahoo Finance reports that if the court sides with Musk, the case could force OpenAI to reverse its 2025 transition to a public benefit corporation and disrupt future fundraising or IPO plans, while OpenAI argues Musk had supported the for-profit move before leaving to pursue competing AI ventures. (Yahoo Finance)
Cannes AI Film Festival Raises Eyebrows – And Questions About Future
According to The Guardian, the first World AI Film Festival in Cannes showcased more than 5,000 AI-generated films and drew growing attention from Hollywood studios and major filmmakers as investment in AI cinema accelerates, even as the main Cannes Film Festival continued to ban AI films from Palme d’Or competition. The event also highlighted tensions over copyright and creative ownership, with one shortlisted film removed for resembling Wallace and Gromit and filmmakers debating whether AI tools trained on existing creative work can coexist with traditional filmmaking and artist compensation. (The Guardian)
AI Can Cost More Than Human Workers Now
Some companies are now spending more on AI compute and token usage than on employee salaries, with executives at firms including Nvidia and Uber saying AI budgets are being rapidly exhausted as demand for infrastructure, software and cloud services grows, Axios reported. Worldwide IT spending is expected to reach $6.31 trillion in 2026, up 13.5% from 2025 according to Gartner, but companies will increasingly need to prove clear productivity gains and returns on AI spending as rising costs and pricing changes from labs like OpenAI and Anthropic put pressure on budgets. (Axios)
OpenAI publishes ‘Our Principles’
OpenAI published a weekend blog post that said the company’s long-term goal is to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity by prioritizing democratization, empowerment, universal prosperity, resilience and adaptability, arguing that advanced AI should be broadly distributed rather than controlled by a small number of companies. The company said its large investments in compute, datacenters and vertically integrated infrastructure are driven by its belief that lowering AI costs and expanding access are necessary to support widespread prosperity while managing safety, cybersecurity and societal risks through iterative deployment and collaboration with governments and other institutions. (OpenAI)
Upcoming Earnings
Microsoft (MSFT)
Microsoft will report fiscal first-quarter earnings on April 29 after market close. The consensus estimate from 14 analysts calls for earnings per share of $4.07, compared with reported EPS of $3.46 in the same quarter last year, according to Zacks Investment Research. (Nasdaq)
Alphabet (GOOGL)
Alphabet is expected to report fiscal first-quarter earnings on April 29 after market close. According to Zacks Investment Research, the consensus estimate from 13 analysts calls for earnings per share of $2.64, compared with reported EPS of $2.81 in the same quarter last year. (Nasdaq)
Amazon (AMZN)
Amazon is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter earnings on April 29 after market close. The consensus estimate from 13 analysts calls for earnings per share of $1.61, compared with reported EPS of $1.59 in the same quarter last year, according to Zacks Investment Research. (Nasdaq)
Meta Platforms (META)
Meta Platforms is reporting fiscal first-quarter earnings on April 29 after market close. According to Zacks Investment Research, the consensus estimate from 15 analysts calls for earnings per share of $6.71, compared with reported EPS of $6.43 in the same quarter last year. (Nasdaq)
Qualcomm (QCOM)
Qualcomm is expected to report fiscal earnings for the period ending March 2026 on April 29 after market close. The consensus estimate from 8 analysts calls for earnings per share of $1.90, compared with reported EPS of $2.35 in the same quarter last year, according to Zacks Investment Research. (Nasdaq)
Apple (AAPL)
Apple will report fiscal first-quarter earnings on April 30 after market close. According to Zacks Investment Research, the consensus estimate from 11 analysts calls for earnings per share of $1.92, compared with reported EPS of $1.65 in the same quarter last year. (Nasdaq)
Upcoming Hearings
Energy Hearing: AI and the Grid: Meeting Growing Power Demand While Protecting Ratepayers
April 29, 10:15 a.m. EST, 2123 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy will hold a hearing titled “AI and the Grid: Meeting Growing Power Demand While Protecting Ratepayers” to examine legislation aimed at expanding grid capacity, protecting ratepayers from rising electricity costs tied to AI data center demand, and strengthening grid reliability. The hearing will review multiple bills including proposals on load forecasting, transmission technology, interstate rate allocation, and protections against higher consumer energy costs driven by AI infrastructure expansion. (U.S. House)
Upcoming Events
Momentum AI New York 2026
April 27-28, New York, NY, Reuter’s Momentum AI New York 2026 brings together CIOs, COOs, CTOs and senior leadership teams to discuss scaling AI across enterprises, with a focus on governing agentic systems, autonomous decision-making and aligning AI deployment with business goals. The event centers on strategies for building secure, ethical and resilient AI systems while helping organizations move from experimentation to measurable enterprise-wide transformation. (Reuters)
ODSC AI East 2026
April 28-30, Boston, Mass., ODSC AI East 2026 is a practical conference for AI and data science professionals featuring keynotes, hands-on workshops, and sessions on LLMs, generative AI, and machine learning applications. It equips builders and leaders with actionable skills for real-world implementation. (ODSC)
AI Dev 26 x SF
April 28-29, San Francisco, Calif., AI Dev 26 x SF hosted by Andrew Ng and DeepLearning.AI gathers over 3,000 AI developers for an immersive technical conference focused on the future of AI software engineering, with keynotes, workshops, and demos. Held at Pier 48, the event emphasizes hands-on learning, innovation sharing, and networking among pioneering builders and researchers. (DeepLearning.AI)
Berkeley Robotics & AI Conference 2026
April 29, Berkeley, Calif., The Berkeley Robotics & AI Conference brings together academia, industry leaders, startups, VCs, and policymakers to examine the current state of robotics, emerging trends, and pathways to real-world impact. This one-day summit at UC Berkeley’s Chou Hall addresses critical topics like hardware funding and commercialization in a software-dominated AI landscape. (UC Berkeley)
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