Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving the tape.
Elon Musk wrapped three days on the witness stand in his lawsuit against OpenAI, testifying in an Oakland federal courtroom before a judge known for running a disciplined schedule. The case centers on whether OpenAI abandoned the nonprofit mission Musk helped fund, and his testimony ranged from his personal origin story to a pointed exchange with OpenAI's lead attorney.
Shifting to commodities, agricultural futures are closing the week on firmer ground. Wheat finished mostly higher across Chicago and Kansas City exchanges, with May Chicago contracts gaining sixteen and a quarter cents on the week. Cotton extended its rally sharply, with July futures up nearly five hundred points across the week as managed money continued adding to long positions.
Meanwhile Meta made another quiet but consequential move in the robotics race, acquiring Assured Robot Intelligence, a startup focused on AI systems for humanoid machines. The deal adds specialized intelligence software to Meta's growing robotics stack, as competition intensifies among major technology platforms to control the brains behind next-generation physical AI.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
