FTI Consulting News Bytes – 1 May 2026

FTI Consulting News Bytes

This week’s news

China blocks Meta’s Manus purchase

China has ordered Meta to unwind its $2bn acquisition of AI app Manus, an unusually late and direct intervention aimed at preventing foreign control of Chinese origin technology. The Financial Times notes that regulators declared the deal illegal under foreign investment rules and demanded a full reversal, including returning funds, restoring original ownership and stopping Meta’s use of Manus algorithms, despite Meta having begun its integration of Manus’ software into some of its tools. The move comes ahead of a Trump-Xi summit, which has escalated US-China tech tensions, with Washington accusing Beijing of coercive tactics. Manus, which was originally founded in China before relocating to Singapore, builds advanced autonomous AI agents and was seen of strategic importance. Beijing’s decision is widely viewed as a warning to deter future foreign takeovers of Chinese tech, marking the second major international deal it has recently disrupted.

OpenAI on trial 

According to the BBC, Elon Musk’s lawsuit against Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, OpenAI and Microsoft has opened in California, with Musk accusing them of “stealing a charity” by turning OpenAI’s original non profit mission into a commercial enterprise. Musk argues he donated tens of millions believing OpenAI would remain a public benefit organisation and claims Altman and Brockman “looted” it once it became valuable. He is seeking billions in “wrongful gains,” Altman’s removal, and a restructuring of the company. OpenAI counters that Musk is acting out of competitive motives, noting he left after failing to gain control and later tried to buy the company outright. A separate BBC piece stresses that the trial is not only about money but about who will shape the future of AGI, quoting the Founding Executive Director of the Lowell Milken Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofits at UCLA, Rose Chan Loui’s saying that “If Musk wins, it could result in the defeat of a key competitor in the race to AGI” and “Whoever wins that race will have a lot of power.”

A push towards European tech competitiveness 

Bloomberg reports that EU President Ursula von der Leyen is meeting with technology and semiconductor companies as Europe faces criticism that its competitiveness agenda is falling behind the US and China, with firms including ASML, Siemens, Nokia and Ericsson urging stronger action and support. This follows comments last week from ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet, who told the company’s annual meeting that Europe accounted for only 1% of ASML’s system sales despite the firm being Europe’s most valuable tech company, calling this a “challenge” and announcing a coalition with major European companies, including Airbus, Siemens, Nokia, Ericsson and SAP, to present “concrete requests to Europe and to different governments in Europe in order to work together on the ecosystem.” Von der Leyen has maintained that competitiveness is the Commission’s top priority and has pledged a “faster and more targeted environment” for business, following criticism from German industry about the slow pace of the EU’s simplification push.

Meta in breach of EU law over child protection

A preliminary investigation by The European Commission has found that Meta violated the EU’s Digital Services Act by failing to stop under 13s from accessing Instagram and Facebook, saying age checks can be easily bypassed and that reporting tools for underage accounts are too difficult to use, often leading to no effective follow ups. As reported by CNBC, the Commission said Meta must overhaul its risk assessment processes, while a Meta spokesperson told the publication it “disagree[s] with these preliminary findings” and argued it already removes underage accounts and is investing in new age detection technologies. If the Commission’s final investigation confirms its preliminary findings, Meta could be fined up to 6% of its global annual turnover.

Google leads Big Tech earnings

Google led a strong set of Big Tech results as the four largest AI players reported earnings simultaneously for the first time, with CityAM highlighting Alphabet’s $109.9bn revenue and a 63% jump in Google Cloud, driving the strongest market reaction of the group. The Financial Times added that Google has pulled ahead in the AI infrastructure race, as demand for its chips and data centre capacity accelerates. Meta also beat on revenue, but its shares fell more than 5% after it lifted capex to $125bn-$145bn, around $10bn higher than previously indicated. Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Britzman said the increase was “modest relative to Meta’s existing investment plans.” Alphabet also raised spending to as much as $190bn without provoking the same concern. Reuters noted that all four companies were already in the spotlight over whether soaring AI investment would deliver adequate returns, with growth in areas like cloud and advertising shaping how the latest numbers were received.

Top Tweets of the Week

• Demis Hassabis, CEO at Google DeepMind: Excited to collaborate with the Korea Ministry of Science and ICT (@msitmedia) to use AI to accelerate scientific discovery and to invest in Korea’s next generation of talent. Many thanks for hosting us @msitminister – look forward to working together!
• WSJ: Shoppers are increasingly buying goods on TikTok Shop. Retailers want in and are setting up their own virtual storefronts. Retailers Flock to TikTok Shop to Find New Shoppers, Sales Growth – WSJ
• Biohub: Today we’re announcing the Virtual Biology Initiative—a major new commitment to build the data foundation biology needs to power the next generation of AI models. Next-gen imaging. Molecular engineering tools. Open data infrastructure for the entire scientific community. Read the full story: Virtual Biology Initiative – $500M for AI-powered biology

Number of the week

$8bn The valuation of second-hand marketplace Vinted following a secondary sale led by EQT, Teachers’ Venture Growth and Schroders Capital (Sifted).