• OpenAI rolled out a new image generation feature for ChatGPT and it was a hit with users.
• Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, said the company had to introduce rate limits because "our GPUs are melting."
• Altman said the experience reminded him of his early days as a Y Combinator-backed founder.

OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman said on Tuesday that handling the ChatGPT maker's new product releases are reminding him of his early days as a Y Combinator-backed founder.

"Lol I feel like a YC founder in 'build in public' mode again," Altman wrote in a post on X.

Altman's remark comes after a busy week for OpenAI. The company released a new image generation feature for ChatGPT on March 25.

The new feature was a hit with users, who flooded social media with AI-generated images in the style of Japanese animation firm Studio Ghibli's films. Altman said in an X post on Monday that OpenAI saw a record spike in users after the feature was rolled out.

But the sudden uptick in users did cause some problems for OpenAI.

On Thursday, just two days after the new feature was released, Altman said that OpenAI's "GPUs are melting" from all the image generation requests they were getting from users.

"It's super fun seeing people love images in ChatGPT. But our GPUs are melting. We are going to temporarily introduce some rate limits while we work on making it more efficient," Altman wrote on X.

Then, in a subsequent X post made on Tuesday, Altman said the company was "getting things under control." He added that users "should expect new releases from OpenAI to be delayed, stuff to break, and for service to sometimes be slow as we deal with capacity challenges."

Altman may be best known for his work at OpenAI now, but the entrepreneur cut his teeth in the tech world at Y Combinator. The startup accelerator counts organizations like Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, and Twitch as alumni companies.

Altman's first startup, a social networking application named Loopt was one of the first few companies to be backed by Y Combinator in 2005. Loopt was later acquired by Green Dot, a banking company, in 2012 for over $43 million.

In 2014, Y Combinator's founder Paul Graham named Altman as his successor. Altman replaced Graham as Y Combinator's president, and held the role for five years. Altman stepped down as president in March 2019 to focus on OpenAI.

On Monday, OpenAI announced it had raised $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation. OpenAI's new valuation is nearly double what it was worth in October, when it raised $6.6 billion at a $157 billion valuation.

Representatives for Altman at OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The president and Musk celebrated the approval even as Republicans were handed a huge defeat in a state Supreme Court race.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) canceled half a week's worth of House votes after failing to contain a revolt over proxy voting within his own party.

Why it matters: It was Johnson's biggest legislative blow of 2025 thus far — and the first where President Trump wasn't providing him reinforcement.

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What happened: The House voted against blocking Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) from forcing a vote on allowing House members who are new parents to vote by proxy.

• Luna obtained the 218 discharge petition signatures needed to force a vote with or without Johnson's assent — including from a dozen Republicans.
• The speaker, a bitter opponent to any form of proxy voting in Congress, fought to stop her anyway.
• Johnson tried to box Republicans in by tying the rule change to marquee GOP legislation requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.

The result was a 206-222 vote against Johnson's maneuver, with Luna and eight other Republicans breaking ranks with Johnson.

• Of the Republicans who voted with Luna, only three had actually signed onto her discharge petition.
• One of them, Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.), told Axios the proxy voting rule change "should get its own up-or-down vote."
• "I voted 'no' because I don't like it being in a package like this and I think it should stand alone on its own merits," he said.

Johnson said after the vote failed: "That rule being brought down means that we can't have any further action on the floor this week."

• Johnson said it was "very disappointing" that a "handful" of his members broke ranks on a GOP procedural measure, adding, "That is rarely done."
• In addition to the noncitizen voting bill, Johnson said the House was set to vote on legislation rolling back Biden-era regulations and restricting federal judges' power to issue nationwide injunctions.

Between the lines: Johnson's hardball tactics may have actually backfired on him, layering personal anger on top of procedural objections.

• Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) said of his vote against the speaker on Tuesday: "I would ask [Johnson] why he tried to do this."
• Several GOP lawmakers expressed a feeling that the speaker was being heavy-handed in trying to override the will of a majority of the House.

Zoom out: Despite a rocky 118th Congress with many failures, Johnson had been able to repeatedly defy political gravity this year.

• He prevailed against detractors in his reelection as speaker and in getting a GOP budget bill passed.
• He also kept his party together on a bill to avert a federal government shutdown until September.

In all those fights, he had a secret weapon: President Trump, who had a vested interest in the outcome of each and made calls on Johnson's behalf.

• The proxy voting fight was entirely a House matter in which Trump had effectively no stake.
• Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), one of Luna's closest allies, told Axios "no way" when asked if the president made any calls to members this time.

What's next: Johnson technically has two legislative days to bring Luna's rule change up for a vote, but GOP lawmakers aren't sure whether he will try to pull more tricks out of his sleeve to keep it from coming to the floor.

• "This rules package vote was something that was a new development," said Mackenzie, "so I wouldn't even hazard a guess what the next step is."
• Nonprofit news outlet NOTUS reported that Johnson plans to keep trying to pass procedural motions to kill Luna's rule change until one passes.
• House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), asked if Republicans will keep trying to kill Luna's measure, told Axios: "We'll see. … Mike Johnson has made it clear he's not going to support the proxy [voting]."

Part of that may be due to pressure from the Freedom Caucus, which staunchly opposes proxy voting and could, in theory, band together to try to oust Johnson as speaker.

The bottom line: "It's very disappointing that he is putting Republican members in this position," one House Republican complained to Axios, "for no reason whatsoever other than what I believe is him protecting his job."

Susan Crawford, a Democratically backed judge, beat back a well-funded Republican candidate to secure a seat on Wisconsin's Supreme Court on Tuesday night, according to AP.

Why it matters: Crawford's win is a rebuke to President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who poured millions into the race — and it will maintain the court's liberal tilt in a key swing state.

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• Tuesday's election fueled big donations from Musk and other billionaires, as Republicans aimed to overturn a liberal majority on the bench.
• Wisconsin's top court is poised to carry broad sway on abortion rights, legislative redistricting and election laws.
• The seven-member court now will have a liberal majority until at least 2028.

What she's saying: "Tonight, Wisconsinites stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price — our Courts are not for sale," wrote Crawford, a Dane County judge, on Musk's X after her win.

The big picture: State Supreme Court races have historically been under-the-radar elections. But they've risen to national prominence, particularly after the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn the Constitutional right to abortion.

• The Wisconsin contest morphed into a national proxy fight.
• It's one of the first closely watched elections since the start of the second Trump administration and essentially served as a referendum on Trump.
• Musk gave out $1 million checks Sunday to two people who cast ballots for the race after the state's Supreme Court declined to intervene in a legal challenge of the prize.
• But Crawford beat Judge Brad Schimel, a circuit court judge and former Republican state attorney general.

By the numbers: A record $67 million had already been spent on the race as of last week, according to data from the tracking firm AdImpact.

• That's up from the record-breaking $50 million that was spent on the state's Supreme Court race in 2023.

More from Axios:

• Musk hands out 2 $1M checks in Wisconsin after court declines to intervene
• Wisconsin takes legal action against Elon Musk over election cash offering
• Exclusive: Elon Musk group's playbook in Wisconsin's court race

Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Judge Susan Crawford.

TikTok faces a Saturday ban if it is not sold to a U.S. owner — déjà vu.

The big picture: At least four groups have made offers to buy the app, but TikTok owner ByteDance would likely need Chinese government approval to sell.

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State of play: President Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office delaying the app's ban by 75 days, and the Supreme Court upheld a ruling that the app needs to be sold to an American company or banned.

• As of early March, TikTok's owner and prospective buyers had not yet negotiated a sale. The Chinese government could be willing to let the app shutter in the U.S. rather than concede to a deal.
• Trump on March 26 suggested he'd lower tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing agreed to a TikTok sale.
• Vice President JD Vance and national security adviser Michael Waltz have been tasked with navigating the potential deal.

Flashback: The bill originally passed with broad bipartisan support and was signed by former President Biden in April 2024.

• Proponents of the ban have argued that the app poses a national security threat because ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, is controlled by the Chinese government and can harvest personal information from American users.
• Opponents challenged the ban, saying it violated their First Amendment rights, which the Supreme Court said didn't apply.
• Trump, despite originally trying ban TikTok via executive order in 2020, vowed to save the app.

Read more about potential buyers:

Frank McCourt and Kevin O'Leary

Shark Tank host Kevin O'Leary and Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt submitted an official proposal to purchase TikTok in January.

• Alongside other investors, the group calls itself the People's Bid for TikTok.
• They would aim to collect less data on users.

By the numbers: McCourt told Axios' Sara Fischer in January that he got $20 billion in commitments to his bid.

MrBeast and Jesse Tinsley

MrBeast, born Jimmy Donaldson joined a bid with Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley, per CNN.

• "Our offer represents a win-win solution that preserves this vital platform, while addressing legitimate national security concerns," Tinsley said in a January statement. "We're prepared to move quickly and have assembled a team with deep experience in technology, content moderation, and platform governance."

Between the lines: Donaldson had previously considered joining McCourt's bid.

Perplexity

Artificial intelligence engine Perplexity made a bid in January to merge with TikTok, per CNBC.

• Perplexity on March 21 released a vision for the app, which includes building a transparent algorithm, enhancing trust and adding more AI functionality.

What they're saying: "A TikTok rebuilt and powered by Perplexity would create the world's greatest platform for creativity and knowledge discovery," Perplexity said.

Oracle

Software company Oracle has accelerated talks with the White House on running TikTok, Politico reported.

• The deal brings potential national security implications.
• Oracle would oversee Americans' data and ensure the Chinese government can't access it, per Politico. But it's unclear if the U.S. firm would have control over the algorithm.

Go deeper: TikTok ban timeline: Here's where things stand

A professor is being accused of flipping over a table set up by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire College Republicans.

Susan Crawford defeated GOP-backed Brad Schimel in a closely contested race for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Democratic candidates for governor in Virginia and New Jersey are preparing to make Musk's name—and his money—a central issue on the campaign trail.

• Elon Musk's super PAC poured more than $12 million into the Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
• In the end, the liberal candidate, Judge Susan Crawford, defeated conservative Judge Brad Schimel.
• The loss is a blow for Musk, who held a town hall in Wisconsin and urged voters to back Schimel.

For Wisconsin Republicans, regaining a conservative majority on the state's Supreme Court was a top priority.

Elon Musk, the world's richest man, funneled more than $12 million via his America PAC to sway the pivotal judicial race in one of the country's premier swing states.

It wasn't enough.

On Tuesday, Musk's big bet on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race fell apart, with outlets including NBC News and CNN projecting that liberal Dane County Judge Susan Crawford has defeated conservative Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel in the most expensive judicial race in US history.

Musk, the face of President Donald Trump's White House DOGE office, has been met with increasingly vocal opposition by voters over the task force's cost-cutting efforts. And the fallout from DOGE is also impacting Tesla, the company that catapulted Musk to international prominence.

Crawford's victory is a significant blow for Musk as DOGE's work continues to face increased scrutiny from the public and could lead to electoral gains for Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections.

Here's how Crawford's win is set to upend Musk's political playbook:

Musk is caught in the DOGE-house

For weeks, scenes of frustrated voters sharply questioning and booing GOP members of Congress have become a defining narrative of DOGE, as many lawmakers have had to defend waves of staffing cuts.

As a guiding force behind efforts to cut costs at critical federal departments — along with efforts to eliminate the US Agency for International Development, or USAID — Musk has faced mounting pushback over the task force's aggressive tactics to reign in spending.

Musk went all in for Schimel, arguing that the Wisconsin race was "important for the future of civilization."

"If the [Wisconsin] Supreme Court is able to redraw the districts, they will gerrymander the district and deprive Wisconsin of two seats on the Republican side," Musk said, referencing the potential for Democrats to make gains through a new congressional map.

"Then they will try to stop all the government reforms we are getting done for you, the American people," he added.

In a state that narrowly backed Trump over former Vice President Kamala Harris last November, voters this week made a new choice.

Crawford's win keeps the liberal bloc in the majority. The court could potentially revisit the state's congressional maps, with a redraw likely to offer Democrats an opportunity to pick up additional seats.

With Republicans currently clinging to a razor-thin 218-213 majority in the US House ahead of what could be a tough midterm cycle, holding the lower chamber will be key for Musk and Trump — especially as it relates to future oversight over DOGE's work.

Musk may approach other races differently

Musk campaigned heavily for Trump in swing-state Pennsylvania last November, with America PAC pouring millions of dollars into the state, much of it for canvassing and other digital-related efforts.

The tech mogul's decision to hand out $1 million checks to select voters who signed petitions at town hall events — similar to what he employed in Wisconsin this time around — drew many people out as he criticized Harris and the media. Trump would go on to win Pennsylvania in the 2024 general election.

Schimel's loss, on the other hand, is a setback for Musk.

Wisconsin Supreme Court races in recent years have become increasingly polarized, with issues like abortion rights, union collective bargaining rights, and voting regulations being used to drive up turnout among base voters. This week, conservatives fell short in their efforts to take the court in a different direction.

Musk is poised to wade into other contests ahead of the midterms, especially with Trump's agenda on the line. However, the latest results in Wisconsin show that there's a limit to such an influence.

Despite sinking millions into the Wisconsin race and making it the most expensive state supreme court election ever, Musk failed to get his candidate the win.

Nine House Republicans voted against his plan to quash proxy voting for new parents.

Cory Booker's speech passed the record set by South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond, who filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

Will the two Denver standouts be available in a critical clash of Western Conference playoff hopefuls?

• The Trump administration has cut off billions of dollars in federal funding for universities.
• The move has already caused some institutions to scale back hiring or implement layoffs.
• The White House also directly targeted a few schools, withholding funds until demands are met.

The Trump administration has set its crosshairs on dozens of universities across the US as part of an effort to crack down on DEI-related initiatives and what the administration has said to be a rampant presence of anti-semitism on campuses.

Already, the administration's moves to reduce federal spending has had sweeping consequences for America's higher education institutions.

Universities have implemented hiring freezes or pursued layoffs as billions of dollars worth of funding toward research remains at threat or has been taken away as a result of the White House's move to downsize or dismantle government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the United States Agency for International Development.

But the administration also has directly threatened several universities to strip them of federal funds, accusing them of failing to properly respond to anti-semitism on campus or participating in "race-exclusionary practices."

The Department of Education issued a letter in March to 60 higher education institutions, including a few Ivy League schools, warning them of potential probes if they do not do more to protect Jewish students.

Columbia University was stripped of $400 million worth of federal contracts and grants after the Trump administration accused the university of mishandling its response to harassment against Jewish students.

In two weeks, the Ivy League school conceded, by banning masks on campus and hiring more security, in hopes of restoring the contracts.

Here's a list of notable cases in which the Trump administration targeted higher education institutions and how universities have responded:

Catch all the action between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers in this MLB matchup live on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

President Donald Trump took a victory lap on Truth Social after Republicans Randy Fine and Jimmy Patronis won two critical Florida special elections.

Ketel Marte has been an impact player for the Arizona Diamondbacks since he made his debut in 2015. Now, he is reportedly nearing a $100-plus million extension.

The Associated Press called the race for Jimmy Patronis less than a half hour after polls closed in the GOP stronghold.

• Chana Widawski handed in her notice after feeling burned out at work.
• She celebrated her 50th birthday with a yearlong sabbatical.
• Now 51 and back in New York, she says the sabbatical taught her to prioritize living over making a living.

Burnout is real, and so is turning 50.

As I neared both, I knew it was time for a sabbatical. I needed a break from my job as a social worker and from my hectic life in the concrete jungle of New York City. I craved travel and needed to recharge. I decided that it was time.

Sabbaticals are an almost foreign concept in my field and for most Americans in general. Losing both of my parents at a young age and working for years with families who had lost loved ones made it clear to me that life is short.

As with most things, dreaming it up was easy; actualizing was not.

I cherished many aspects of my job and life. I loved the neighborhood free store and composting initiative I started. I relished opportunities to dance and partake in happenings around the city.

But those all-too-familiar feelings of stagnation, burnout, and wanderlust prevailed. While I didn't quite know how I would spend my break or exactly when I'd start it, I handed in my notice.

It was transformative, even though my actual last day on the job came 6 months later.

In January 2023 my journey began. Single and without children or aging parents to care for, I was free of responsibilities and faced no objections to traveling into the next half-century of my life with positive energy and openness.

Traveling solo, at my own pace

I used the airline points I had accrued to book a one-way flight to India, unsure of how long I would stay or where I'd head next.

Eliminating my primary expense, housing, came easy, as a friend was more than happy to use my affordable, centrally located apartment in my absence.

Once abroad, I opted for the adventure of low-cost public transportation. This included a 24-hour bus journey from Kathmandu to Delhi and sitting on sacks of rice with someone's child on my lap for segments of a packed bus ride toward Muktinath in Nepal.

Similar to my life back in New York, I avoided lavish spending and saved money by living a socially conscious lifestyle — bicycling, camping, gardening, volunteering, foraging, eating home-cooked meals, and wearing secondhand clothes.

My background in social work gave me a sense of openness while I moved about the world.

I lived with the Lohani family in Nepal, volunteering on their farm and eating the best home-cooked dal baht, a rice dish with lentils. We hiked through the mountainside to join the entire village for its rice planting festival and for a baby's rice feeding ceremony.

Self-discovery through solo travel

I traveled slowly and covered a lot of ground, from Nepal and India to Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East, both coasts of the US, and lots in between.

A friend from home joined me to trek the mountain villages of Svaneti, Georgia. I spent time with new friends at gatherings in Germany, a festival in the Czech Republic, a conference I presented at in Croatia, and on a canoe trip back in the US, on Utah's Green River.

But nothing compared to the powerful serendipities and exchanges I experienced while traveling alone.

On the day of my 50th, I didn't get any hugs, phone calls, or even text messages. My phone was in a drawer at the picturesque Kopan Monastery in Nepal while I spent 10 days in silence, with people from across the globe, learning, meditating, reflecting and just being. It was idyllic.

My sabbatical turned out to be more than just a break; it transformed my way of being.

Two years later, I'm back in New York.

I'm still in love with the city and still disillusioned by the rat race and concrete jungle. The trip taught me to continue to prioritize living over making a living.

The NIT semifinals have arrived, and it's Chattanooga taking on Loyola Chicago at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.