The Verge: Sam Altman to return as CEO of OpenAI. “Sam Altman will return as CEO of OpenAI, overcoming an attempted boardroom coup that sent the company into chaos over the past several days. Former president Greg Brockman, who quit in protest of Altman’s firing, will return as well.”
The Verge: Microsoft hires former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. “Altman was fired from OpenAI on Friday, after the board said it ‘no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.’ After a weekend of negotiations to potentially bring Altman back to OpenAI, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that both Sam Altman and Greg Brockman will be joining to lead Microsoft’s new advanced AI research team.”
SF Gate: Bay Area tech company reportedly trying to poach Google workers with $10M pay packages. “The Information reported Friday that OpenAI recruiters are trying to poach senior researchers from Google’s AI teams, telling the workers that their annual pay, ‘mostly in the form of stock,’ could range from $5 million to $10 million. OpenAI has previously hired key Google AI researchers, sometimes using a personal plea to the employee from CEO Sam Altman, the Information reported.”
Semafor: OpenAI has quietly changed its ‘core values’. “ChatGPT creator OpenAI quietly revised all of the ‘Core values’ listed on its website in recent weeks, putting a greater emphasis on the development of AGI — artificial general intelligence. CEO Sam Altman has described AGI as ‘the equivalent of a median human that you could hire as a co-worker.’”
Ars Technica: Jony Ive and OpenAI’s Altman reportedly collaborating on mysterious AI device. “Ex-Apple design star Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have been discussing the design of an unspecified new AI device, reports The Information, citing two people familiar with the talks. It’s unclear what exactly the device may be, but the report has many people on social media and the press guessing about a re-imagining of a smartphone that relies heavily on generative AI. Others think the device may be something else entirely.”
Reuters: OpenAI’s Sam Altman launches Worldcoin crypto project. “Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, launches on Monday. The project’s core offering is its World ID, an account that only real humans can get. To get a World ID, a customer signs up to do an in-person iris scan using Worldcoin’s ‘orb’, a silver ball approximately the size of a bowling ball. Once the orb’s iris scan verifies the person is a real human, it creates a World ID.” I will not share my opinion on this endeavor with you because doing so would violate every obscenity ordinance in a 200-mile radius.
CNBC: Here’s what happened during OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s first congressional hearing on artificial intelligence. “Artificial intelligence regulation should not repeat the same mistakes Congress made at the dawn of the social media era, lawmakers at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on privacy and technology made clear Tuesday.”
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