Young and the Restless gives Matt Clark (Roger Howarth) currently in custody of the Abbott’s private security team. Meanwhile, the Newmans are scrambling to save their family empire that is under attack by the AI that turned on Victor Newman (Eric Braeden).
Soon, Jack Abbott‘s (Peter Bergman) and Victor Newman’s families may need to come together to battle their mutual enemies.
Victor Newman Scrambles to Save Newman Enterprises from AI Attack on Young and the Restless
Right now, we’ve got Victor scrambling. He’s trying to save Newman Enterprises from the AI attack that came from Cane Ashby (Billy Flynn) and Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford). Already this week, Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle) told Victor that she’s moving assets, but one of their entire divisions has already been wiped out. The company is disintegrating from within.
Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) is beyond disgusted, and she told Victoria that Victor knows how this plays out because he did the same thing to Arabesque, another really big company. Now, Victor’s saying that they’re too big to fail and he’s vowing he won’t let it happen to their company, but it is happening.
Phyllis Summers and Cane Ashby Refuse to Negotiate with Victor on Y&R
Victor marched over to negotiate with Cane and Phyllis. Victor told Nikki and Victoria that everybody has their price, so he’s sure he can make a deal. He shows up at the “Cane Train” just as Phyllis and Cane are wrapping up their celebratory sex fest. They were getting dressed and were going to head over to the Newman Ranch to taunt Victor, but he saved them the trip by showing up.
He asked, “What’s it going to take for Phyllis and Cane to,” as he called it, “end the madness?” Now, Victor didn’t think it was madness when he launched the AI against Cane’s company. Victor never tried to end the madness then. Remember, Cane came and was trying to negotiate with him, and Victor kicked him out.
Victor Faces the Consequences of Rejecting Jack’s Deal on Young and the Restless
Victor thinks he can buy his way out of this mess that he has created. Maybe he thinks they’re nicer people than he was. But let’s be real, Phyllis and Cane aren’t going to stop. They don’t just want money. They want to take over Newman Enterprises and make it their own. And they want to see Victor at rock freaking bottom.
Meanwhile, across town, Jack is stuck with Matt Clark because Victor rejected Jack’s deal to trade the AI for Matt. This week, Jack told Diane Jenkins (Susan Walters) that he saw real fear in Victor’s eyes. Jack said he’d never seen Victor so rattled. Plus, Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson) already told Jack that Cane and Phyllis were going to be targeting Newman.
Jack & Diane Brace for AI Fallout
Jack’s pretty much figured out that Victor is losing everything and it is an AI attack. Diane thinks it’s wonderful. She’s actually rooting for Phyllis and Cane but Jack is still on his guard because he knows that they could come for them. With everybody focused on Phyllis and Cane and the attack on Newman, this is the perfect time for Matt to find a way out of captivity. Jack got private security holding Matt in a secure location, but Victor sent his people to follow them. If Victor’s people try and take Matt from the Abbott’s people, there could be a scuffle and that might give Matt the chance to run off.
Matt Clark Escapes on Young and the Restless: New Enemies for the Newmans and Abbotts
There are new winter spoilers about Matt making trouble for all the families in Genoa City, and an escape is the best place to start. It’s about to get even messier because Cane wants to bring in his sort of brother, Billy, into this situation as well. Right now, Cane feels bad that Billy isn’t part of getting revenge on Victor when he desperately wanted to get payback on “the Mustache” for so long.
Now, Billy may not be Cane’s biological brother like Cane pretended to be years ago, but he does care about Billy and he wants to help him. Of course, Phyllis doesn’t think he should, but Cane’s going to invite Billy to join the party. That means Cane, Phyllis, and Billy might soon be running Newman Enterprises together, unless Victor can find a way to stop the unstoppable AI or find some way to bribe Cane and Phyllis to stop what they’re doing.
Young and the Restless Winter 2026 Spoilers: A Two-Front War in Genoa City
Bottom line, everything is slipping away from the Newmans, all because Victor refused Jack’s deal. Further back, if Victor hadn’t ever used the AI—but that’s water under the bridge. This week, Victor turned down the chance. If they had destroyed the AI together as Jack asked, then Cane couldn’t have used it and flipped the switch. It was a Trojan horse now eating Newman Enterprises from the inside out.
Also, Matt would be in the Newman’s custody or in jail. But Victor always thinks he knows better, and he’s really screwed the pooch this time. A new Young and the Restless spoiler for winter 2026 says that Matt makes new enemies. Another spoiler says Jack and Diane pay for Nikki and Victor’s actions.
The Growing Threat to Jabot and the Future of the Newman Empire
Jack can’t in good conscience let Matt go; he knows how dangerous he is. Jack’s got to keep him locked up or turn him over to the cops. Already, Matt’s decided he hates Jack and Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) for holding him against his will. Jack and his family are now also on Matt’s target list along with Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow), Victor, Noah Newman (Rory Gibson), and all the other Newmans. It seems inevitable that Matt Clark will be on the loose soon based on the 2026 spoilers.
Other spoilers say Victor and Jack are going to have to work together to take on Cane and Phyllis because she still has her eye on Jabot. With Cane basically turning back into a villain at this point, they might turn the AI on the Abbotts too. The two families led by Jack and Victor are going to be facing war on two fronts: first, against the AI, Cane, Phyllis, and possibly Billy, and second, with the very real threat of murderous Matt Clark. It may take everyone in both families to get rid of these looming threats.
