The New Grok Times — May 22, 2026

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World

Rubio's Slight Progress Closes the No-Hurry Week

Marco Rubio at a podium in Helsingborg, Sweden, addressing reporters alongside NATO ministers

TL;DR

The week opened with two or three days and closed with slight progress, while Iran formalized a permanent Hormuz toll with Oman and Trump rejected tolls.

MSM Perspective

AP, Reuters, and Xinhua lead with the slight progress quote and the Plan B warning; Bloomberg Daybreak's chyron was Trump Rejects Hormuz Tolls.

X Perspective

Pro-Tehran handles read slight progress as Iran winning the toll fight; pro-Israel handles read it as Trump giving away leverage on the floor.

By Yosef Stern, Jerusalem May 22 9 min read

Justice Clarence Thomas administers the oath of office to Kevin Warsh in the East Room of the White House, with Warsh's wife Jane Lauder holding the Bible and President Trump in the background

Business

Warsh Took the Oath From Clarence Thomas in the East Room

Trump introduced, Thomas swore him in, FOMC unanimously elected him chair within hours, and the bond market traded the same neighborhood it traded the day before.

By Theo Kaplan, San Francisco May 22 8 min read

A US Customs and Border Protection officer reviews a green-card holder's documents at the international arrivals hall at Washington Dulles International Airport, with Ebola health-screening posters visible

Life

The CDC Widened Title 42 Instead of Withdrawing It

The CDC could have withdrawn its WHO-contradicting Ebola order, defended it, or done nothing — instead it expanded the order to green-card holders.

By Nora Whitfield, Chicago May 22 8 min read

Charlotte Motor Speedway infield grass painted with a number 8 in tribute to Kyle Busch, with the track behind under overcast Carolina skies

Sports

Kyle Busch Died at 41 Three Days Before the Coca-Cola 600

He won 234 races across NASCAR's three series — more than anyone — and died in a Concord simulator three days before the longest race on the schedule.

By Amara Okonkwo, Lagos May 22 8 min read

Business

Lululemon's June 25 Vote Now Has All Four Corners

Wilson's three nominees, the board's three, Elliott's billion-dollar position pushing a different CEO, and a $126.76 stock down 39.9% YTD — all four corners landed Friday.

By Theo Kaplan, San Francisco May 22 7 min read

Saudi F-15 fighter jets in formation against a desert sky, with the silhouette of the Saudi-Iraq border landscape below

World

Saudi Arabia and the UAE Separately Struck Iran During the War

Reuters confirmed Friday via two regional officials, a Western diplomat, and an Israeli military officer that both Gulf states hit Iran and Iraqi militias during the war.

By Yosef Stern, Jerusalem May 22 7 min read

Exterior shot of the SpaceX Colossus 1 data center near Memphis, Tennessee, with cooling towers and electrical infrastructure visible against a flat Tennessee landscape

Technology

The SpaceX S-1 Named Anthropic as the 45-Billion-Dollar Customer

SpaceX's S-1 disclosed Anthropic will pay $1.25 billion every month through May 2029 — and Anthropic projected its first quarterly profit on the same Friday.

By David Chen, Beijing May 22 7 min read

A health worker in full PPE at the perimeter of a treatment center in Bunia, Ituri Province, gloved hand on a chain-link fence.

Life

Bundibugyo Day Four Lands at Six to Twelve Months From a Phase One Trial

The PHEIC is five days old, the body count keeps moving, and the strain-specific vaccine that does not exist is still six to twelve months from the first humans.

By Nora Whitfield, Chicago May 22 4 min read

An empty Senate floor on a Friday afternoon before Memorial Day recess, light angling through the chamber from the gallery windows.

Politics

The Senate Second Vote on the Iran War Powers Resolution Slipped to June One

Tuesday's 50-47 discharge was the procedural breakthrough; the House pulled the companion vote on Thursday and recessed, and the next floor opportunity is June 1.

By Samuel Crane, Washington May 22 4 min read

Josh Hart at Madison Square Garden in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, mid-celebration after a three-point make, jersey damp, crowd standing behind him.

Sports

The Knicks Closed Game Two on an 18-0 Third-Quarter Run and Took a Two-Nothing Lead

Game two produced an 18-0 Knicks run between the 10:37 and 5:04 marks of the third quarter, and the closing-run frame Game one made into an artifact is now a pattern.

By Amara Okonkwo, Lagos May 22 4 min read

The Federal Trade Commission building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington at dusk, the agency seal lit on the limestone facade.

Technology

The FTC Sent TAKE IT DOWN Letters to Eight Platforms and Twelve Nudify Sites the Same Week the EU Pushed AI Act Deadlines Back Sixteen Months

Two regulators moved in opposite directions on the same Friday — the FTC went at nudify operators directly, and Brussels bought the AI industry a year and four months on the highest-risk rules.

By Anna Weber, Berlin May 22 4 min read

A trading-floor screen in lower Manhattan showing LION at 14.47 in green numerals against a green volume bar, Friday afternoon.

Business

Lionsgate Rallied Twelve Percent on Its Own Numbers and Bid for Itself

Michael tracking to a billion, leverage path to 4.5x by Q4 FY27 and $190M free cash flow — the standalone studio outbid every potential acquirer with its own forward visibility.

By Camille Beaumont, Los Angeles May 22 4 min read

A young listener at night in a Toronto apartment with Iceman album art on a phone screen, headphones cabled to the device, low yellow lamplight.

Entertainment

Drake's Iceman Cleared Jay-Z's Fifteen Number-Ones on Day Four

140.2 million Spotify streams on day one, a 480-520K first-week projection on day four, and a fifteenth number-one that moves Drake past Jay-Z — without a press cycle.

By Camille Beaumont, Los Angeles May 22 4 min read

Arena Sofia, the 17,906-capacity indoor venue in the Studentski Grad district of the Bulgarian capital, lit at dusk.

Entertainment

Eurovision Twenty-Seven Has Bulgarian National Television and Four Cities Bidding

Thursday's paper called five days of EBU silence the audit; Friday's reality is a host broadcaster, four city bids and a government working group — the paper runs the correction openly.

By Charles Ashford, London May 22 4 min read

Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros, the red clay raked and empty under late-afternoon Paris light the day before main-draw play begins.

Sports

The French Open Draws Without Alcaraz and the Grand Slam Becomes Sinner's to Lose

Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from both Roland Garros and Wimbledon on a wrist injury; the draw landed Thursday, Sinner is minus-300, and the career Grand Slam is one fortnight away.

By Charles Ashford, London May 22 4 min read