Dan Primack

Heading off for a couple weeks at the beach. @ShenLucinda will be writing Axios Pro Rata, so please send her news and views. Be back later in July.

Toll TACO: Trump backtracks on Hormuz 20% toll demand axios.com/2026/07/14/tru…

The push to bypass the Strait of Hormuz axios.com/2026/07/14/oil…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the Strait of Hormuz: "No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway."

🇺🇸🇮🇱🇸🇦Senator Lindsey Graham, who died suddenly Saturday, spent his final weeks laying the groundwork for an ambitious new push for Israeli-Saudi normalization, he told me in multiple conversations over the past several weeks. My story on @axios axios.com/2026/07/12/lin…

Why both left and right have rejected free markets axios.com/2026/07/11/fre…

I like my regular coffee shop, but prefer my vacation coffee shop. Think it’s all about the waiting area

A source confirms the Seahawks sale price is $9.612B to a group led by Vinod Khosla (who will now have to sell his 49ers stake, acquired just last year). His wife, Neeru Khosla, will be "controlling owner," according to a memo shared with NFL teams Saturday obtained by @FOS.

Vinod joins the NFL owners club

I would be honored to do another on-camera interview with President Trump whenever he wants. vimeo.com/444621778

I’m beginning to wonder if Sun Valley is really organized by Getty Images, and Allen & Co is just a front

Phiagate, explained in horse terms You go from HorseReviews dotcom over to ClydesdalesDirect dotcom. You have Phia installed as an extension. You buy a stunning Clydesdale from the website using its online shopping features, knowing that this particular horse breed — large and powerful, with an arched neck, high withers, and a sloped shoulder — is perfect for your use case after HorseReviews educated you on all this. You don't notice anything, but Phia was part of the transaction. It inserted an attribution code into the transaction process without you knowing, allowing it to collect the commission ClydesdalesDirect pays out to businesses that refer customers to them and effectively stealing that commission from HorseReviews dotcom, which actually referred you. HorseReviews dotcom likely paid Google to advertise its site so that ultimately they could collect this commission. Phia did nothing but replace HorseReviews' affiliate code with its own. That's basically what the Bloomberg story alleges.

Today, I shared with the OpenAI team that I have decided to leave my full-time role at OpenAI and transition to being a part-time advisor. Three months ago, I had to go on medical leave after a severe exacerbation of a chronic illness I’ve lived with for seven years. During that time, it became clear that the road to recovery would be much longer and more complex than I had anticipated—and that I needed to focus on it fully. When I went on leave, many people told me I was courageous for prioritizing my health. The truth is that I am only making this decision now because I failed to make it many times before. Over the years, doctors, friends, colleagues, and loved ones encouraged me to slow down. Two years after I got sick, Facebook offered me the opportunity to take a full year of medical leave. I didn’t even pause to consider it. I immediately said no. At the time, Zuck told me I should play the long game. I wish I had listened. Looking back, I realize that a lot of what made me successful also made this decision incredibly difficult. I grew up believing that opportunities were precious and that when they appeared, you grabbed them with both hands. That mindset carried me from a small town in southern France to opportunities I never could have imagined. By the time I turned 40, I had already gotten to do more than I’d ever dreamed possible as a kid growing up in Sète. I love building. My work has always given me a deep sense of purpose. OpenAI in particular felt like a role that my entire career had been building toward, which made this decision even harder. But what I’m learning now is that grit and endurance are not the only skills required to have impact over decades. Sometimes the harder thing is to stop, listen, and trust that taking care of yourself today makes it possible to contribute for much longer tomorrow. This experience has also strengthened my conviction about why this work matters. It has been a jarring experience to spend my days helping build the future while simultaneously navigating a disabling disease that still has no cure. Over the last seven years, I’ve spent countless hours in doctors’ offices, dealing with symptoms, treatments, insurance, uncertainty, and all the invisible work that comes with being a patient. Like millions of others living with chronic illness, I’ve experienced firsthand how difficult healthcare can be to navigate, even when you have every possible advantage. More than ever, I believe that some of the most important opportunities for AI lie in helping people solve real problems in their daily lives: their health, their finances, their time and the everyday burdens that shape human experience. In particular, curing disease is the most important thing AI could accomplish. I’m excited to continue working towards cures through OpenAI but also through my work with @ChronicleBioAI and @CODA_research. I’m deeply grateful to @sama, @gdb and the OpenAI board for their support during this time and for offering a way for me to continue contributing to the mission without sacrificing my chances of recovery. I’m also so thankful to my team and the many extraordinary colleagues I’ve had the privilege to build alongside. For now, my focus is recovery. But my belief in the potential of technology to solve deeply human problems has never been stronger.

Brown University professor gives midterm. Avg is 96%. Professor suspects AI-enabled cheating. Gives new, in-person. Some students drop class immediately. Those who take it, the new avg is 49%. insidehighered.com/news/faculty/l…

.@sama to CNBC: "There's no connection between any potential OpenAI equity or other companies' equity in a sort of sovereign wealth fund and the right regulatory approach. I think completely separate."

Today's newsletter: VC records shattered, big asset management M&A and why Solyndra still matters axios.com/newsletters/ax…

Venture capital is already having a record year axios.com/2026/07/09/ven…

"A pilot jumped out of the door of a moving plane to his death, leaving the student he was teaching to fly to land the aircraft by herself." cnn.com/2026/07/08/ame…

@OscarArch22 @KingJames @celtics Cleveland.

@danprimack @KingJames @celtics Where do you think he lands Dan?

A bunch of Axios Local newsletters today made their quick pitches for @KingJames to join their teams, and I got asked to write the @celtics one. axios.com/newsletters/ax…