Faced with high costs, U.S. firms look to cut back on AI spending Faced with steep IT costs, many US tech firms including Microsoft are ditching expensive AI agents like Claude Code, Axios reported. Microsoft has reportedly cancelled most of its Claude Code licences partly due to high costs, according to the Axios report. As per the report, an unnamed US company spent half a billion dollars in a month after failing to put usage limits on Claude licenses for its employees mangaluru l Saturday l may 30, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Guv accepts Siddu’s resignation; CLP meet today to pick DKS as CM Siddaramaiah pushes loyalists to DCM posts; oath-taking by June 6 P r e e tha N air , B ala C hauhan & D e v ara j B H ir e halli @New Delhi/Bengaluru Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Friday morning accepted Siddaramaiah’s resignation as chief minister, paving the way for the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting in Bengaluru to elect DK Shivakumar as new CM – scheduled for 4pm on Saturday. Hectic daylong negotiations were on in Delhi over the new cabinet and ministerial berths. Shivakumar’s oath-taking, however, remains undecided with a combination of dates being considered, but is expected to be completed in the coming week. Governor Gehlot, on accepting the resignation, dissolved the council of ministers under Siddaramaiah, who was yet to arrive in Bengaluru at the time. Siddaramaiah will continue as CM until “alternative arrangements are made”, according to a notification from Lok Bhavan. Those very “alternative arrangements” are, however, being worked out with the Saturday-afternoon CLP under the chairmanship of the outgoing CM Siddaramaiah electing Shivakumar as its leader and later Shivakumar visiting Lok Bhavan to stake claim to form the new government. Shivakumar is likely to be sworn in no later than June 6. His mentor, spiritual guru and astrologer Rajguru Bellur 6 killed in Vijayapura in dispute over farmland F iro z R o z in d ar @Vijayapura In a gruesome crime that sent shockwaves across Vijayapura district, six persons were brutally murdered at Govindapura village in Chadachan taluk on Friday, allegedly over a long-standing agricultural land dispute. The deceased were identified as Revanasiddappa Nirale, Dundappa Nirale, Shivaputra N i r a l e, C h a n d r a s h e k h a r Nirale, Rahul Nirale, all from the same family, and Shabbir Nadaf, a labourer who had come to work in the field. Initial reports said violence erupted over a disputed 25acre agricultural land involving the Nirale family and another powerful family from the same Neevaragi village of Chadchan taluk. Sources said the Nirale fam- ily had recently purchased the land from the Teli family . The accused family had strongly opposed the Nirale family buying the land from Telis, claiming that the property was under dispute for the last 15-16 years. The Teli family had not cultivated the land during that period. Despite repeated objections from the accused family, the Nirale family went Guv sore over partial Vande Mataram Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi being greeted by Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, in New Delhi on Friday | Express 10-member initial cabinet Sources said DKS will be sworn in with nine others — including picks by Siddaramaiah — in the initial cabinet that will be expanded after the June 18 Rajya Sabha polls. Plans are on for the ceremony on the grand steps of Vidhana Soudha Sankaranarayanan Dwarakanath, told TNIE, “I told him to consider any of the three dates (May 31, June 5 or June 6) for oath-taking as they are auspicious for him. The time will however be 4 pm,” he said. Meanwhile, hectic parleys were on in New Delhi where Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar met with the party high command, which is keen on two deputy chief ministers (DCMs), though there are ongoing discussions about having four. “The party central leader- ship has reportedly approved two DCMs, but it is a fluid situation,” said sources on condition of anonymity . It is learnt that the party high command has assured Siddaramaiah about his son and MLC Dr Yathindra’s induction into the cabinet, so also former ministers G Parameshwara and Priyank Kharge. Sources said Siddaramaiah suggested to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that Yathindra and former ministers KJ George and MB Patil be appointed DCMs.  P4, 7 NEET-UG paper leak: PM supervising retest S o v i Vi d ya d haran @ T’puram @ New Delhi Vande Mataram once again emerged as the centrepiece of a tussle between the UDF government in Kerala and the Lok Bhavan after the Union government’s directive to render the national song in its entirety was not followed at the inaugural session of the 16th Kerala Legislative Assembly . Instead, the Kerala Police band played only the opening stanza. While it marked the first time that Vande Mataram was rendered in the assembly, the omission of the remaining stanzas drew strong objections from Governor Rajendra Arlekar, who delivered the UDF government’s maiden policy address in the House. Arlekar told reporters that the Lok Bhavan had, a day earlier, insisted that the national song be sung or played in full in accordance with protocol. S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y The Supreme Court on Friday advised the National Testing Agency (NTA) to learn from bodies like the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) that conduct large-scale competitive exams without paper leaks. The court made the observation while hearing a batch of pleas filed by the United Doctors Front and the Federation of All India Medical Associations seeking the disbanding of the NTA over the NEET-UG paper leak and the upcoming retest. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, assured the court that the government was treating the matter with utmost seriousness. “The Prime Minister is personally supervising the situation,” he said, adding the government plans to eventually shift NEETUG to computer-based testing. “UPSC has never been in such a situation. You need to learn. General liability clauses were not enough. The real problem won’t stop till actual accountability arises. Unless you identify the specific duty bearers, it will be difficult,” the bench said. “The problem is that most institutions are ad hoc. It’s a phenomenon that is everywhere in the country It’s not the individ. ual who has the capability but the institution,” Justice Narasimha observed. He asked the Centre to file an affidavit specifying how an “institutional memory of continuity” could be built by employing specialised personnel, enabling the NTA to conduct exams reliably in future. Dr K Radhakrishnan, the head of the monitoring committee to suggest recommendations to strengthen NEET, described the structural deficiencies within the NTA in 2024. ahead with the purchase which angered the accused family, sources said. On Friday afternoon, Nirale family members went to the farmland to prepare it for sowing operations ahead of monsoon. Members of the accused family who learnt about it, reached , the spot and objected to the Nirale family carrying out the agricultural work. P7 E x p r e s s Re a d Union Cabinet rejig likely in mid-June New Delhi: A major reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers is likely between June 15 and 18, with indications that over a dozen ministers could be dropped or shifted. According to sources, at least two ministers and three MoSes are expected to exit | P10 RBI upbeat about economy despite war Outlook for 2026-27 remains positive, supported by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, the RBI said in its annual report | P12