FTI Consulting News Bytes – 22 May 2026

FTI Consulting News Bytes

It’s been another jam-packed news week in TMT. One filled with major announcements, court drama and some new policy and regulation. We start with Google’s annual I/O conference, which unveiled a plethora of new offerings, including smart glasses that enable AI-powered interaction. We then cover the widely publicised lawsuit brought against OpenAI by Elon Musk, over allegations relating to its nonprofit structure. Sticking with Elon, we also look at SpaceX and what could become the largest IPO in history, with an estimated valuation of $1.25 trillion. Elsewhere, Anthropic will be sitting down with UK financial institutions and experts to discuss possible cybersecurity vulnerabilities that were detected by Anthropic’s Mythos. Lastly, we cover news that companies including Snap, Meta and Roblox have agreed to introduce new measures aimed at restricting strangers from contacting children and improving the detection of grooming activity, following pressure from Ofcom.

This week’s news

Google to release smart glasses and add AI “agents” to search engines

At its annual I/O conference, Google unveiled autonomous AI agents and coding tools within its search engine, alongside a new line of smart glasses, as it overhauls its core product under pressure from rivals Anthropic and OpenAI, the Financial Times reports. The changes to Google search will be powered by a new Gemini 3.5 flash model. Speaking at the event, Chief Executive, Sundar Pichai, said the model was “a major leap forward in building more capable, intelligent agents, as AI tools that can independently perform tasks based on user interaction.” He added that “we’ve been bringing agents to developers and enterprises for a while” and noted that Google is “super focused on bringing the power of agents to consumers so that it works for everyone.” Google also revealed plans to challenge Meta and others in smart glasses, more than a decade after it shelved its original Google Glass back in 2015. 

Jury rejects Elon Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit over nonprofit claims on technical grounds  

This week, a federal jury in Oakland, California, found that Elon Musk waited too long to sue OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, over claims that they violated an agreement to run their AI venture strictly as a charitable nonprofit. According to The Wall Street Journal, in deliberations that lasted less than two hours, the nine-person panel found against Musk on technical grounds. He had alleged in testimony that OpenAI “stole a charity” when it converted into a for-profit company. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who presided over the case, accepted the verdict and dismissed the claims. Following the ruling, Musk and his attorneys said they would appeal the verdict to the 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals. Musk also posted on his social platform, X, describing the decision as a “calendar technicality” and arguing that “there is no question to anyone following the case in detail that Altman and Brockman did in fact enrich themselves by stealing a charity.” 

Anthropic to brief global financial watchdog on cyber flaws exposed by Mythos

This week, it was reported that Anthropic has agreed to brief leading finance ministries and central banks on vulnerabilities in the global financial system’s cyber defences identified by the Anthropic’s latest AI model. According to the Financial Times, the plan followed a request by Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, for Anthropic to discuss the capabilities of its new Claude Mythos Preview AI model with members of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) which he chairs. The news comes as members of the FSB slammed the alarm on the risks posed by the latest AI developments and the weakness they could expose in the lenders’ cyber infrastructure. Back in April, Anthropic said that Mythos had “found thousands of high-severity vulnerabilities, including some in every major operating system web browser.” It warned the “fallout – for economies, public safety and national security – could be severe.” The briefing comes as the FSB gears up to release its “sound practices” report for adopting AI in the financial system.

SpaceX set for largest IPO in history 

BBC reports that Elon Musk’s SpaceX is planning to go public in the US in what is being tipped as the largest IPO in history. The Company is expected to be valued at around $1.25 trillion and could raise between $75 billion and $80 billion in investment. Such a valuation would cement SpaceX as one of America’s most valuable companies and significantly increase the value of Elon Musk’s majority stake, potentially pushing his net worth beyond $1 trillion. The filing also disclosed financial details of a recent agreement between SpaceX and AI company Anthropic, under which Anthropic will reportedly pay $15 billion annually to access data centres in the American South operated by xAI, which was recently acquired by SpaceX. In addition, Goldman Sachs has reportedly secured the “lead left” role on the deal, marking a major win for the investment bank.

Ofcom continues to push companies to improve child safety

As the debate over the next phase of the U.K.’s online safety regime reaches fever pitch, Ofcom is claiming a partial victory for the existing rules by squeezing a concession out of a handful of tech companies. According to the Independent, Snap, Meta and Roblox have agreed to introduce new measures to restrict the ability of strangers to contact children and detect signs of grooming. Ofcom announced, as part of an update, that the U.K.’s six most popular services with children have taken to comply with the Online Safety Act. Ofcom’s CEO, Melanie Dawes, said the “significant” commitments were the result of “sustained public and private pressure” — though the regulator will be keeping watch to ensure they “translate to action.” The piece also added that it is pushing Meta to go further on anti-grooming measures. 

Top Tweets of the Week

• Jonathan Cheng, China Bureau Chief at Wall St Journal: Morgan Stanley issues China-only iPhones to its Hong Kong bankers—US bank’s move reflects rising concern over data security for staff travelling to mainland China.
• The New York Times: Breaking News: OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, is preparing to file to go public in the coming weeks, people familiar with the matter said.
• Bloomberg: Europe’s first-quarter earnings season was the best one in three years, buoyed by energy majors and tech giants.

Number of the week

22 The number of years since Arsenal were last English Premier League champions. Congratulations!