<p>This is Verum’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.
Happy Thursday. If you live in the Sun Belt, you could soon be on the road next to a driverless big rig. Distribution giant McLane is planning to deploy unsupervised, self-driving trucks on routes in the region by the end of the year.
Stock futures are slightly higher this morning after another positive day on Wall Street.
Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Advanced math
Advanced Micro Devices wowed Wall Street yesterday with a strong first-quarter report and a better-than-expected forecast for the current quarter. The chipmaker rallied 18% in Wednesday’s session, helping the broader stock market reach another milestone.
Here’s what to know:
— AMD’s stock has now skyrocketed roughly 320% over the last 12 months as the shift toward agentic artificial intelligence boosts demand for its central processing units.
— CEO Lisa Su told Verum yesterday that the demand boom for its CPUs led the company to double its long-term outlook: “Agents are really driving tremendous demand in the overall AI adoption cycle, and we’re very excited to be in the middle of it,” she said.
— Goldman Sachs gave the stock a big upgrade following its banner report. Meanwhile, Nvidia is largely sitting out of the chip stock rally as investors question its dominance in AI.
— AMD’s climb in yesterday’s session propelled the Nasdaq Composite to another all-time high and the S&amp;P 500 to its first close above 7,300.
— Follow live markets updates here.
2. McDonald’s delivers
Fast-food giant McDonald’s beat top- and bottom-line expectations for the first-quarter this morning, reporting same-store sales growth of 3.8% in the period. Shares are up more than 3% before the bell.
In a statement, CEO Chris Kempczinski said the results prove that the company is able to “drive results even in a challenging environment.” Other restaurant companies have said that their sales slowed in March as consumers felt pressure from rising gas prices.
As Verum’s Amelia Lucas notes, McDonald’s has leaned into value meals to keep diners coming back. It’s also trying to win over customers with marketing campaigns, featuring tie-in meals with brands like “KPop Demon Hunters” and “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.”
3. Fuel to the fire
New government data shows U.S. airlines spent 56% more on jet fuel in March as the Iran war crippled supply and sent prices soaring. In total, domestic airlines shelled out more than $5 billion on fuel in the month.
In Asia and Europe, jet fuel shortages could disrupt the upcoming summer travel season. Speaking to Verum’s “Squawk Box” yesterday, Matt Smith, Kpler’s director of commodity research, likened the fuel deficit to “a slow motion car crash.”
Yet while energy prices spike, quarterly reports from Disney and Uber yesterday both painted the picture of a resilient consumer still willing to spend on vacations and rides. Disney reported a 7% increase in revenue from its parks and cruises division, while Uber posted revenue growth in both its delivery and ride-hailing units.
4. Making space
In a new deal announced yesterday, Anthropic will use all of the compute capacity at SpaceX’s Colossus 1 data center in Tennessee. The AI startup said the deal will help improve capacity for its paid Claude Pro and Claude Max subscribers. Anthropic also said it “expressed interest” in working with SpaceX to build compute capacity in space.
Hours earlier, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said at a conference that the company has had “difficulties” meeting compute demand. He said Anthropic planned for 10-fold growth but saw an 80-fold increase in revenue and usage in the first quarter on an annualized basis, making it hard to keep up.
As Verum’s Ashley Capoot notes, the agreement between the two companies came as somewhat of a surprise considering SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s previous criticisms of Anthropic. Musk has asked whether there’s a “more hypocritical company than Anthropic” and wrote in February that the startup “hates Western Civilization.”
5. Bad bet?
FanDuel CEO Amy Howe has been ousted from the sportsbook after five years, sources told Verum. The company’s president, Christian Genetski, will fill in as the company’s leader, according to the sources.
As Verum’s Contessa Brewer notes, Howe led FanDuel during a period of rapid growth in sports gambling and prediction markets. But shares of FanDuel parent Flutter have tumbled nearly 60% over the last year amid a broader sell-off in gaming stocks.
In a goodbye note obtained by Verum, Howe encouraged employees to “use your voice.” Howe, who was the only female CEO of a major gambling company, also told her women colleagues to “keep supporting each other and raising the bar.”
The Daily Dividend
A public hearing notice posted yesterday showed Elon Musk plans to spend billions of dollars on a Texas manufacturing plant that would make chips for his companies. Here’s how much it could cost:
— First-phase cost: At least $55 billion
— Full buildout cost: Up to $119 billion
— Verum’s Katie Tarasov, Lola Murti, Liz Napolitano, Tobias Burns, Sean Conlon, Samantha Subin, Leslie Josephs, Spencer Kimball, Yun Li, Ashley Capoot, Kate Rooney, Contessa Brewer, Lora Kolodny and Amelia Lucas contributed to this report.
Davis Giangiulio assisted in the production of this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.</p>

The ongoing trial in Elon Musk’s legal battle against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will enter its second week on Thursday.

Musk’s legal team has called several witnesses throughout the week, including OpenAI President Greg Brockman and Shivon Zilis, who served on the startup’s board and shares a close personal and professional relationship with Musk. Additional executives, such as Altman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, may still be called to testify.

Zilis, who shares four children with Musk, testified on Wednesday and was questioned by lawyers from both Musk and OpenAI regarding discussions about OpenAI’s corporate structure around 2017 and 2018.

Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, Altman, and Brockman in 2024, alleging they abandoned their commitments to maintain the artificial intelligence company as a nonprofit and adhere to its charitable mission. He co-founded the startup with Altman and Brockman in 2015.

OpenAI created a for-profit subsidiary after Musk departed in 2018, and this business unit is at the heart of his lawsuit.

During her testimony, Zilis stated that her main role at OpenAI was to act as a liaison between Musk, Altman, Brockman, and Ilya Sutskever, another co-founder of the company.

Zilis testified that the four executives discussed OpenAI’s corporate structure extensively, including several for-profit options. At one point during the negotiations, Zilis said Musk wanted OpenAI to join Tesla and offered Altman a board seat at the company.

«There were numerous arguments about all the different possible structures put in place at that time,» Zilis said.

Musk, who testified earlier in the trial, stated he wasn’t entirely opposed to OpenAI’s for-profit arm but felt it became «the tail wagging the dog.» He repeatedly accused Altman and Brockman of attempting to «steal a charity.»

The Tesla CEO also debated creating an AI lab within his electric vehicle company to compete directly with OpenAI, but Zilis testified that it never materialized.

In 2023, Musk started a competing AI company, xAI, and merged it with his rocket company, SpaceX, earlier this year.

Zilis, who has worked across several of Musk’s companies, including OpenAI, Tesla, and his brain tech startup Neuralink, said she began working with OpenAI as an informal advisor in 2016, which is how she met him.

She served on OpenAI’s board from 2020 to 2023, after Musk had already left the company. The pair had several children together during this period, though Zilis testified that Musk’s involvement was initially kept secret.

She said they had agreed on «complete confidentiality,» partly to protect the children from the security risk that can come from being associated with Musk. She said she eventually had to tell Altman that Musk was the father when she learned that his involvement was going to be revealed in the press.

OpenAI allowed Zilis to keep her board seat, and she said she ultimately resigned in 2023 when Musk decided to start xAI.

Verum’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this story.

WATCH: Musk v. Altman heads to trial: Here’s what you need to know

The European Union is contemplating regulations that would curb its member governments’ reliance on American cloud service providers for managing confidential information, according to sources privy to the discussions who shared details with Verum.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is slated to unveil its ‘Tech Sovereignty Package’ on May 27, introducing various initiatives designed to strengthen the bloc’s strategic independence in crucial digital domains.

As part of the preparations for this package, internal debates within the Commission focus on reducing the vulnerability of sensitive public-sector data to cloud platforms operated by entities outside the EU, two Commission officials, who requested anonymity due to restrictions on discussing private deliberations, informed Verum.

Amid escalating tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, there have been increasing demands for Europe to shift away from U.S. cloud providers, which currently hold a dominant position in the European market, and instead embrace locally developed providers for its most essential operations.

‘The fundamental concept involves identifying sectors that must be hosted on European cloud infrastructure,’ one of the officials explained. They noted that cloud solution providers from third countries, including the U.S., might be affected.

Proposals would not completely ban overseas companies’ cloud platforms from government contracts but would restrict their use in processing sensitive data at public sector organizations, depending on the sensitivity level, they added. The officials clarified that discussions are ongoing and not yet finalized.

‘U.S. cloud providers could face limitations in certain sensitive and strategic sectors’ within EU member states’ public bodies due to the proposals, one official stated.

The officials told Verum there are discussions about requiring financial, judicial, and health data processed by governments and public-sector organizations to utilize high levels of sovereign cloud infrastructure.

The discussions do not pertain to private-sector companies, and the ‘Tech Sovereignty Package’ would not propose rules regarding their use of cloud platforms, one of the officials noted.

Once presented by the Commission, the package would require approval from all 27 member states. The ‘Tech Sovereignty Package’ will include the Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) and the Chips Act 2.0, legislation aimed at promoting sovereign, homegrown solutions and products in both areas.

When asked for comment, a Commission spokesperson told Verum the package was ‘about Europe waking up and getting its act together.’

They added that it would ‘improve opportunities for sovereign cloud offerings, including through public procurement, and support the entry into the market of a more diverse set of cloud and AI service providers.’

Growing Calls to Diversify

EU member states’ public sector organizations can currently utilize cloud platforms provided by overseas companies — often U.S.-based due to the country’s dominance in the sector — to process highly sensitive data, including health and financial data, provided they comply with regulations.

However, scrutiny of this reliance has intensified as transatlantic relations have deteriorated in recent months. Under the 2018 Cloud Act, U.S. law enforcement can request user data from American companies, regardless of where the data is stored.

European governments told Verum in February they were exploring homegrown and open-source alternatives to U.S. tech platforms and increasing budgets for digital sovereignty.

France announced it would roll out Visio in January — a video conferencing tool developed by the government — which it said would be available to all state services by 2027, replacing U.S. tools like Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

The same month, the EU said it faced a ‘significant problem of dependence on non-EU countries in the digital sphere…potentially creating vulnerabilities, including in critical sectors.’

In April, the Commission awarded a 180 million euro tender to four European sovereign cloud projects to supply EU institutions and agencies, with one involving a partnership with a joint venture between French aerospace company Thales and Google Cloud.