👋🧠 Sam Altman Back At OpenAI?
Happy Wednesday all,
In our Sunday Primer, covered the Sam Altman OpenAI ordeal as it had developed then. If you want more detailed insight into what happened over the weekend, look no further. In this week’s edition, we cover a basic timeline of what you need to know about the OpenAI situation and its resolution (for now).
Enjoy this week’s Hump Days!
- Humphrey, Rickie & Tim
👀 Eye-Catching Headlines
🏦 The fed wants more evidence before changing rate stance (WSJ)
👔 McKinsey and peers are facing the wildest headwinds in years (Bloomberg)
🤖 Amazon launches free AI classes in bid to win talent arms race (WSJ)
⛽️ California’s pump prices fall below $5 for first time since July (Bloomberg)
👨⚖️ Hundreds convicted as Italy’s largest mafia trial in decades ends (WSJ)
♻️ Wall Street’s ESG craze is fading (WSJ)
The Weekly Brief
1. A Timeline of Sam Altman’s Firing from OpenAI (ABC News)
A lot has happened in the last few days regarding the Sam Altman and OpenAI fiasco, but here is the Sparknotes roundup to catch you up to speed.
Friday, November 17
Altman was fired from his role as the CEO of OpenAI following a review from the board of directors, the company announced.
According to OpenAI’s statement, Altman was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, and they lost confidence in his ability to lead OpenAI.
Following Altman’s departure, OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman announced his departure as well.
Mira Murati, former chief technology officer, stepped in to take over as interim CEO.
Sunday, November 19
OpenAI hired former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear as interim CEO to replace Murati, who had just been appointed.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced they had hired Altman to lead a new AI department alongside Brockman and other departed OpenAI employees.
Monday, November 20
Nearly all 800 employees at OpenAI signed a letter calling for the resignation of the board and the return of Altman as CEO.
The employees threatened to quit and join the newly announced AI department at Microsoft.
Tuesday, November 21
Altman reached an agreement to return as the CEO of OpenAI.
The return was contingent on OpenAI reconfiguring its board of directors, and new additions to the board include former Salesforce CEO Bret Taylor, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo.
Altman’s return appeared to have been supported by Nadella, whose company made a $10B investment in OpenAI earlier this year.
2. Nvidia Fails to Satisfy Lofty Investor Expectations for AI Boom (Bloomberg)
Shares in Nvidia fell 3% after the company blew past analyst expectations but failed to satisfy the lofty expectations investors had brought upon by the AI boom.
Revenue in the current period amounted to about $20B, topping the average Wall St prediction of $17.9B.
Investors were expecting a lot more from the chipmaker, with analysts reporting that Nvidia shares were priced at a level that required an absolutely perfect outcome.
Moving forward, Nvidia expects its data centers to be a huge driver for growth and is currently working on new chips that won’t trigger export restrictions to China.
3. Binance CEO Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges, Steps Down (CNBC)
Binance chief Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to criminal charges and stepped down as CEO as part of a $4.3B settlement with the Department of Justice.
Zhao and others were charged with failing to implement an effective anti-money-laundering program and for willfully violating U.S. sanctions (i.e., Binance profited from the U.S. market without implementing the necessary controls).
The crypto exchange allowed illicit actors to make more than 100k transactions that supported activities such as terrorism and illegal narcotics, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.