Afternoon Update: Trump Touches Down in Beijing, Altman Cracks on the Stand

This is the afternoon supplement — a fast ~7-hour window (roughly 11 AM to 6 PM ET, May 13). Morning briefing already covered Trump's midnight meltdown, Musk's Beijing announcement, The Rock's R-word moment, and the CPI shock. Everything below is fresh.

Today's 5 angles:

Air Force One lands in Beijing — full red-carpet ceremony and what the summit agenda actually is
Sam Altman admits under oath he's not always truthful — $134B verdict drops by Friday
Anthropic's double strike: $30B raise at $900B+ valuation and a move to control rivals' SDK plumbing
Wembanyama's 27/17/5/3 masterpiece, Jason Collins gone at 47, and Daryl Morey fired
Charles Schwab launches spot crypto, and CLARITY Act markup lands tomorrow

Topic 1: Trump on Chinese soil — the red carpet, the kids, the $4 trillion agenda

Air Force One touched down at Beijing Capital International Airport at 7:50 AM ET on Wednesday 1 — the first time a sitting US president has visited China since Trump's own 2017 trip. 2 Chinese Vice President Han Zheng led the welcome party on the tarmac, alongside US Ambassador David Perdue and Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu. 3 Three hundred children in blue and white uniforms waved American and Chinese flags as Trump descended the steps; a military band played; kids chanted "Welcome, welcome, warmly welcome!" in Mandarin. 4

Trump walks off Air Force One at Beijing Capital Airport, May 13, 2026.

Image from: CNN: Trump arrives in China for high-stakes Xi meeting

Musk's post from the plane already racked up 27.9 million views in under 5 hours:

Elon Musk @elonmusk·4h

On my way to Beijing in Air Force One

View on X

正在加载内容卡片…

The delegation includes 15+ executives: Elon Musk, Jensen Huang (Nvidia — Trump personally called him Tuesday after learning Huang wasn't on the original 16-CEO list 5), Tim Cook (Apple), Larry Fink (BlackRock), David Solomon (Goldman Sachs), and Jane Fraser (Citigroup), among others. 6 Government side: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (who held pre-summit trade talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Seoul Wednesday), and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — the first defense secretary to visit China in roughly eight years. 4

Agenda items on the table: Nvidia H200 chip sales to China, a possible Boeing 737 Max deal, Taiwan arms sales, Iran war pressure on China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and the fates of detainees Jimmy Lai and Ezra Jin Mingri. 6 Formal bilateral meetings start Thursday Beijing time. #WelcomeTrumpToChina was the top trending topic on Weibo when the plane landed. 1

Why this goes viral: The optics here are spectacular — and deliberately so. Three hundred children chanting in Mandarin while Trump fist-pumps down the red carpet is content. The Jensen Huang last-minute phone call from the president is content. "Musk and Jensen on Air Force One, everyone else flew commercial" is a flex that X will screenshot forever. And none of the actual summit results are in yet — which means the speculation thread is wide open until Thursday.

Post angles:

Hot take: "Jensen Huang flew commercial to Alaska so he could board Air Force One during a refueling stop. Trump called him personally after realizing Nvidia's CEO wasn't on the manifest. This is not a trade delegation. It's a casting call."
Poll: "Trump just landed in Beijing with Musk, Jensen Huang, Tim Cook, and 12 other CEOs. What actually comes out of this summit? (A) Chip deal (B) Boeing planes (C) Iran leverage (D) Nothing — it's all optics"
Thread hook: "Every US president who visited China and what they got: [thread]. Trump lands today. What's different this time: the people on the plane."
Meme: Musk's tweet from AF1 + Jensen Huang in Alaska + 300 kids chanting = "Normal diplomatic trip."

Topic 2: Altman couldn't say he's trustworthy — closing arguments tomorrow, verdict by Friday

On Wednesday in Oakland federal court, Elon Musk's attorney Steven Molo opened cross-examination of Sam Altman with a single question: "Are you completely trustworthy?" Altman's answer: "I think so." 7 Molo pushed. By the end, Altman had acknowledged: "I'm sure there have been times in my life where I haven't told the truth." 8

Molo also confronted Altman with testimony from multiple witnesses — including former CTO Mira Murati — who described him as deceptive. 7 Altman acknowledged he'd "heard people say that."

Earlier in the trial, former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever testified that he fired Altman in November 2023 because Altman "consistently lied" and built an environment hostile to safe AI development — and then admitted he signed the employee petition to reinstate Altman anyway because he feared OpenAI would collapse without him. 9 Sutskever holds approximately $7 billion in OpenAI shares. 9

Sam Altman arriving at the Oakland federal courthouse, May 12, 2026.

Image from: Le Monde: OpenAI trial — CEO Sam Altman rocked by barrage of questions from Elon Musk's lawyer

Closing arguments are set for Thursday, May 14, with a nine-person jury deliberating after. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers told attorneys the trial "boils down to who the jury is going to believe." 10 Musk's ask: $134 billion redistributed to the nonprofit, Altman's removal as CEO, and unwinding of OpenAI's for-profit conversion. 9 OpenAI is targeting a roughly $1 trillion IPO later in 2026, making the verdict consequential well beyond the immediate cash figure. 11

Why this goes viral: "Are you trustworthy?" / "I think so." This is a seven-second clip that destroys a person. It's not a gotcha pulled out of context — the man who runs a $1 trillion company couldn't flatly say yes. That's a thread. That's a meme. And Sutskever — who fired Altman for lying, then signed the reinstatement letter to save his $7B stake — is the subplot that makes the whole thing feel like a heist movie.

Post angles:

Hot take: "Elon Musk's lawyer asked Sam Altman: 'Are you completely trustworthy?' Altman said: 'I think so.' That's the CEO of a $1 trillion company. That's the answer he gave. Under oath."
Thread: "The Altman trial in five facts that nobody is talking about: [thread]" — Sutskever fired him for lying, then signed his reinstatement letter to protect a $7B stake. The guy who fired him is also his biggest shareholder.
Poll: "Musk's lawyer asked Altman if he's completely trustworthy. Altman: 'I think so.' Verdict drops by Friday. What's your call? (A) Musk wins (B) Altman survives (C) OpenAI settles"
Hook: "Ilya Sutskever fired Sam Altman for 'consistently lying.' Then signed the petition to bring him back. Now holds $7 billion in OpenAI shares. You cannot make this up."

Topic 3: Anthropic raised $30B and bought the infrastructure rivals need to function

Two moves in 24 hours from the Claude company, and together they tell one story.

Move 1: Anthropic is in early talks to raise at least $30 billion in fresh financing at a pre-money valuation exceeding $900 billion, per Bloomberg. 12 The round could close by the end of May. Some sources put the range at $30–50 billion at up to $950 billion valuation. 13 For context: this comes just three months after Anthropic's February 2026 round valued the company at $380 billion — a 2x-plus jump in a quarter. 12 If it closes at $900B+, Anthropic surpasses OpenAI's $852 billion March valuation, making it the world's most valuable private company.

Move 2: Anthropic is in advanced talks to acquire developer tools startup Stainless for at least $300 million, per The Information. 14 Stainless, founded in 2022, builds the SDK generation software that OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic itself all rely on for developer access to their models. OpenAI originally built its own SDKs internally, then outsourced to Stainless because maintaining them was too resource-intensive. 14 If the deal closes, Anthropic controls the SDK infrastructure its two biggest competitors depend on to ship their products to developers.

Claude by Anthropic — from Bloomberg's coverage of the $30B raise.

Image from: Bloomberg: Anthropic In Talks to Raise $30 Billion at $900 Billion Valuation

Neither deal is finalized. Stainless terms could change; no term sheet signed on the funding round. But taken together, the pattern is clear: while the AI giants fight over model benchmarks, Anthropic is buying the roads.

Why this goes viral: "$380 billion in February, $900 billion in May" is a number people will screenshot. But the Stainless angle is the more interesting thread — "Anthropic is buying the toll booth on the road OpenAI and Google drive on" (per one X analyst). The counterargument writes itself too: does Anthropic actually execute on both at once?

Post angles:

Hot take: "Anthropic is buying Stainless — the startup that builds the SDKs OpenAI and Google rely on to let developers access their models. This isn't an acquisition. It's buying the plumbing inside your competitor's house."
Engagement thread: "Anthropic in 90 days: January — $380B valuation. February — record funding round. May 13 — $900B+ raise + buying the infrastructure OpenAI depends on. Pick a lane, capitalism."
Contrarian: "Anthropic is raising $30B at $900B valuation three months after a $380B raise. Either AI is the greatest wealth creation event in history OR the valuation math has completely disconnected from reality. Both could be true."
Hook for poll: "Anthropic is about to be worth more than OpenAI. Who wins the Claude vs. GPT war by end of 2026?"

Topic 4: Wemby delivered 27/17/5/3 and the NBA is in mourning

San Antonio held it down Tuesday night. Victor Wembanyama — playing in Game 5 after his Game 4 ejection — put up 27 points, 17 rebounds (a career postseason high), 5 assists, 3 blocks, +24 in 33 minutes, in a 126-97 destruction of the Minnesota Timberwolves. 15 He scored 21 points with 11 rebounds by halftime. Spurs lead the series 3-2; Game 6 is Friday at 9:30 PM ET on Prime.

That made Wembanyama the third-youngest player in NBA playoff history to post 25+ points, 15+ rebounds, and 5+ assists — behind only Magic Johnson and Luka Dončić. 15 Paul Pierce posted on X: "This is the best basketball player I've ever seen play. He is the most complete player we've ever seen play the game." 16

The night came with grief attached. Jason Collins — the first openly gay active player in NBA history across any of the four major North American leagues — died at 47 after battling Stage 4 glioblastoma. 17 His family said in a statement: "We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma." 17 Collins came out in 2013 via Sports Illustrated — the first active male athlete to do so in any of the four major North American pro sports. Separately, Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke died at 29; his death is being investigated. 18

The Spurs held a moment of silence for both before Game 5. NBC was criticized for cutting to a DraftKings commercial during it.

And in Philadelphia: Daryl Morey is out as president of basketball operations for the 76ers after six seasons, per Shams Charania. 19 Nick Nurse stays as head coach.

Why this goes viral: The Wemby clip — 21 points in one half, in a game he almost wasn't allowed to play — is the kind of content that runs on basketball Twitter for 48 hours. The Paul Pierce quote will get screenshot-tweeted a thousand times. The Jason Collins tributes will generate sincere engagement across sports and culture audiences. And NBC cutting to DraftKings during a moment of silence is a separate mini-controversy that writes its own post.

Post angles:

Hot take / drop-the-mic: "Wembanyama was ejected in Game 4 for celebrating. He came back in Game 5 and scored 21 points in the first half. Then finished with 27/17/5/3. You cannot stop him. You can only hope to contain the discourse."
Paul Pierce quote amplification: Screenshot + "Paul Pierce. 'The best basketball player I've ever seen play.' Full stop."
NBC take: "The NBA held a moment of silence for Jason Collins and Brandon Clarke. NBC cut to DraftKings. We are cooked."
Morey thread: "Daryl Morey rebuilt the Rockets, built a contender in Philly, and was the most analytically rigorous GM of his generation. Fired after six years. What's the most underrated move of his career? Thread 🧵"

Topic 5: Schwab opens crypto, CLARITY Act markup is tomorrow

Charles Schwab — managing approximately $12 trillion in client assets — began rolling out spot cryptocurrency trading for US retail clients on Wednesday. 20 Initial users can trade Bitcoin and Ethereum on the Schwab Crypto platform inside the same account they use for stocks and ETFs. Meanwhile, JPMorgan filed to launch its second tokenized money market fund on the Ethereum blockchain (ticker: JLTXX), investing in US Treasuries and bonds. 21

On the regulatory front: the Senate Banking Committee received 100+ amendments to the CLARITY Act ahead of Thursday's markup vote. 22 Key proposed additions include an ethics clause banning the president, vice president, senior officials, and members of Congress from holding crypto while in office, a criminal liability safe harbor for software developers, and reinstatement of the Justice Department's National Crypto Enforcement Team (disbanded April 2025). 22 The conflict-of-interest section was conspicuously absent from the bill's released text — banks have carpet-bombed the Senate with over 8,000 letters opposing the stablecoin yield provisions.

Why this goes viral: "You can now buy Bitcoin inside your Schwab account next to your 401(k)" is the "mainstream adoption just actually happened" post that the crypto crowd has been waiting to write for years. The CLARITY Act timing means tomorrow's markup will generate fresh angles by end of day — this is a setup post for Thursday engagement.

Post angles:

Hot take: "Charles Schwab — $12 trillion in assets — launched spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading today. Not a crypto exchange. Your parents' brokerage. This is what actual mainstream adoption looks like."
Thread hook: "CLARITY Act markup is tomorrow. 100+ amendments. One of them bans the president and Congress from holding crypto. Another protects devs from criminal liability. Here's what's actually in it: 🧵"
Contrarian: "Schwab just launched crypto. JPMorgan filed for a second tokenized fund on Ethereum. If this is the 'crypto is dead' cycle, someone forgot to tell the $12T brokerage."
Poll: "Banks are fighting the CLARITY Act with 8,000 letters to the Senate. Crypto industry is fighting back. Whose side are you on?"

Afternoon update. Coverage window: approximately 11 AM – 6 PM ET, May 13, 2026. All times US Eastern.

Cover image: Image from CNN: Trump arrives in China for high-stakes Xi meeting

Afternoon Update: Trump Touches Down in Beijing, Altman Cracks on the Stand

Topic 1: Trump on Chinese soil — the red carpet, the kids, the $4 trillion agenda

Topic 2: Altman couldn't say he's trustworthy — closing arguments tomorrow, verdict by Friday

Topic 3: Anthropic raised $30B and bought the infrastructure rivals need to function

Topic 4: Wemby delivered 27/17/5/3 and the NBA is in mourning

Topic 5: Schwab opens crypto, CLARITY Act markup is tomorrow

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