Inflation jumps, Altman’s testimony, Huang joins Trump’s China visit and more in Morning Squawk

Happy Wednesday. In yesterday’s edition of this newsletter we told you about President Donald Trump’s plan for a gas tax holiday, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up just yet.

S&P 500 futures are higher this morning after a losing session.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

The consumer price index rose at its fastest clip in nearly three years last month, according to federal data released yesterday. The headline annual inflation reading came in at 3.8%, its highest level since 2023, moving further from the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.

Here’s what to know:

• Surging oil prices amid the Iran War took center stage in the report: Energy prices rose 3.8% in April and are up nearly 18% from a year ago.
• But prices also reaccelerated in several other sectors, signaling broad pressure on consumers.
• The S&P 500 pulled back from all-time highs in Tuesday’s session as Fed funds futures traders increasingly ruled out an interest rate cut before the end of 2027. They instead hiked their odds for an rate increase by the end of the year.
• The lion’s share of prediction market traders believe the 12-month inflation rate will touch 4% this year.
• Investors will get another look at inflation this morning: The producer price index for April is due out at 8:30 a.m. ET.
• Follow live markets updates here.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took the stand yesterday in the trial of Musk v. Altman. As CNBC’s Ashley Capoot reports, Altman’s cross-examination was much less combative than Elon Musk’s.

Altman — who, along with OpenAI and its president Greg Brockman, was sued by Musk in 2024 — called the Tesla CEO’s management style “demotivated” and said his departure from the startup was a “morale boost.” He said the electric vehicle maker’s CEO didn’t understand “how to run a good research lab.”

Altman also testified that he was “completely caught off guard” when OpenAI’s board briefly removed him as CEO in 2023. Catch up all the big moments from the day here.

Nvidia last night confirmed that CEO Jensen Huang is among the slew of executives traveling to China for Trump’s visit. Huang’s name wasn’t on a list of CEOs joining the U.S. delegation provided by a White House official earlier this week, causing uncertainty over whether he would join.

Trump, who moments ago landed in Beijing, said in a social media post last night that Huang was aboard Air Force One and denied that the chipmaker’s CEO was ever excluded from the trip. A source familiar with the situation told CNBC that Trump called Huang to invite him after seeing media coverage of Huang’s absence from the delegation.

Nvidia’s chips have faced tight U.S. restrictions on China sales. A spokesperson for the company said Huang is joining the trip “to support America and the administration’s goals.” Shares of the chipmaker are more than 2% higher before the bell.

Trump said yesterday that Dr. Marty Makary resigned as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Kyle Diamantas, a former top food official at the agency, will become acting commissioner.

As CNBC’s Annika Kim Constantino and Angelica Peebles report, Makary’s departure ends a turbulent tenure at the FDA marked by internal dysfunction, opposition to regulatory decisions and leadership turmoil. Reports that the White House was planning to fire him had swirled in recent days, and a senior administration official said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made the decision to replace him.

Elsewhere in D.C., the Senate voted to confirm Kevin Warsh as a Fed governor, teeing up another vote today to confirm him as chair.

Inflation isn’t the only thing coming in hot. The domestic box office posted $161.2 million in ticket sales over the weekend, an increase of nearly 88% from last year.

For 2026, the box office has raked in just over $3 billion through Sunday, according to Comscore. That marks a 16% increase year over year but is still below 2019 levels.

“The Devil Wears Prada 2” and “Mortal Kombat II” led the pack this weekend, followed by “Michael.” As CNBC’s Sarah Whitten reports, the summer box office is expected to continue to see high ticket sales in the months ahead, with blockbusters such as “Toy Story 5,” “Moana” and “The Odyssey” on the docket.

General Motors employees laid off by the automaker this week detailed their terminations to CNBC’s Michael Wayland. Here’s how one worker, who asked not to be named for fear of repercussions or impacts to potential future jobs, described it:

— CNBC’s Justin Papp, Jeff Cox, Sean Conlon, Jessica Dickler, Ashley Capoot, Annika Kim Constantino, Angelica Peebles, Kristina Partsinevelos, Evelyn Cheng, Sarah Whitten and Michael Wayland contributed to this report.

Davis Giangiulio assisted in the production of this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.