Closing arguments can offer some of the most compelling moments of a trial. Lawyers are tasked with directly persuading jurors to see their side. Plaintiffs are often advised to attend, though it’s not always a legal requirement.

During summations on Thursday, OpenAI’s lead lawyer William Savitt took the opportunity to draw attention to Musk’s absence.

“Mr Musk isn’t here today. My clients are,” Savitt told jurors, in a reference to OpenAI boss Altman and president Greg Brockman. “They are here because they care a lot about this.”

Musk, by contrast, was in the courtroom for exactly one witness, Savitt claimed: Elon Musk. And now, he was “in parts unknown”.

Not explicitly mentioned was the fact that Musk had just hitched a ride on Air Force One to join President Donald Trump in Beijing, for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. China correspondent Laura Bicker has more on what we learned from the visit here.

Musk was hardly the only big tech CEO to accompany Trump on the trip. Apple’s Tim Cook and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang were there, too. But Musk was alone in leaving behind a high-stakes trial he himself had initiated.

Musk’s attorney Steven Molo apologised to jurors for his client’s absence, but added: “I think you saw from his testimony that this is something he’s passionate about.”

The download: Musk was absent for the closing arguments in what could be one of his most consequential trials yet. While a loss for him would be bruising, if OpenAI doesn’t win, it could prove existential for them.

The BBC has identified dozens of interconnected social media pages which post anti-immigration AI-generated videos about the UK to large audiences - but the accounts are often run from overseas. The accounts have been racking up hundreds of thousands of views with AI-generated clips of fake scenes - such as the House of Commons filled with men in traditional Arab clothing imposing Sharia law. Social media investigations correspondent Marianna Spring took a closer look.

Do Waymo’s driverless cars have a problem with cul-de-sacs? Last week, one of its vehicles was filmed struggling to reverse out of an east London street. Now, multiple empty Waymos have been seen driving in circles around a cul-de-sac in Atlanta, Georgia - watch what happened here. The firm said it took “community feedback seriously” and had addressed the issue.