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☆ Election Updates: Tom Cotton emerges as a top contender in Trump’s V.P. race.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Michael C. Bender | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

“I woke up, I said, ‘I wonder, will it be hostile or will it be friendly?’” Mr. Trump said. It was a love fest.”As is often the case during Mr. Trump's speeches, the truth was a bit more complex. But Mr. Trump observed that Mr. Levitt had exited his business too early and was unable to make a comeback when he wanted to years later. The reason, Mr. Trump said, was that he had squandered his momentum. “You have to always keep moving forward,” Mr. Trump said.

Persons: Miles, Donald J, Trump, “, ‘, ”, Biden, Hiroko Masuike, Trump’s, —, Unprompted, Mr, Indiana Mitchell, Rafael Brito, ” Mr, Brito, Melvin Howard, William Levitt, Levitt, ” Jeffery C, Mays Organizations: New York State, Trump, South Bronx . Credit, New York Times, Dominican, Queens, New York Police Department Locations: Bronx, New York, York City, Crotona, Florida, “ New York, South Bronx, United States, Dominican Republic, ”, Central Park, Long

☆ Opinion | ‘Artificial Intelligence?’ No, Collective Intelligence.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( The Ezra Klein Show | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A.I.-generated art has flooded the internet, and a lot of it is derivative, even boring or offensive. called “Spawn” trained on human voices that adds an uncanny yet oddly personal layer to the music. Beyond her music and visual art, Herndon is trying to solve a problem that many creative people are encountering as A.I. baby,” Spawn, on “PROTO”; how A.I. voice imitators grew out of electronic music and other musical genres; why Herndon prefers the term “collective intelligence” to “artificial intelligence”; why an “opt-in” model could help us retain more control of our work as A.I.

Persons: Holly Herndon, Mathew Dryhurst, Jules LaPlace, ”, Herndon, Jordan Meyer, Patrick Hoepner, “, Ezra Klein Organizations: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Locations: Dryhurst

☆ OpenAI sends internal memo releasing former employees from controversial exit agreements
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

OpenAI on Thursday backtracked on a controversial decision to, in effect, make former employees choose between signing a non-disparagement agreement that would never expire, or keeping their vested equity in the company. The internal memo, which was viewed by CNBC, was sent to former employees and shared with current ones. The memo said OpenAI will also not enforce any other non-disparagement or non-solicitation contract items that the employee may have signed. "As we shared with employees, we are making important updates to our departure process," an OpenAI spokesperson told CNBC in a statement. Bloomberg first reported on the release from the non-disparagement provision.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI, Vox, ChatGPT Organizations: Microsoft, CNBC, Bloomberg Locations: Redmond , Washington, OpenAI

☆ Thomas Midgley Jr.: The man who almost destroyed the planet (twice)
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —Facing a crowd of journalists, inventor Thomas Midgley Jr. poured a lead additive over his hands and then proceeded to inhale its fumes for about a minute. Unfazed, he said, “I could do this every day without getting any health problems whatsoever.”Soon afterward, Midgley needed medical treatment. The task of addressing the issue of engine knocking fell to Midgley while he was working at General Motors in 1916. An estimated 1 million people a year still die from lead poisoning, according to the World Health Organization. The toxicity of lead was already well-known when Midgley added it to gas, but that didn’t stop Ethyl from becoming a commercial success.

Persons: Thomas Midgley Jr, “, ”, Midgley, —, Ford, Gerald Markowitz, Colin Creitz, Charles Kettering, ” Markowitz, ” Midgley, Bill Kovarik, Midgley —, Kettering —, Freon, Joe Sohm, CFCs, Perkin, Priestley, Kettering, Willard Gibbs, Carl E, ” Kovarik, Markowitz, I’m Organizations: CNN, General Motors, City University of New, GM, Standard Oil, DuPont, Network, UNICEF, World Health Organization, Radford University, America, Montreal Protocol, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Befrienders, Society of Chemical Industry, American Chemical Society, National Academy of Sciences, TNT, Linde Locations: Beaver Falls , Pennsylvania, United States, City University of New York, Algeria, American, Dayton , Ohio, Virginia, Montreal, Chicago

☆ Actors show CNN comparison of their voices and alleged ‘illegal’ AI versions
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( John General | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ OpenAI's defense: We're not liars; we're just incompetent. Yikes!
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Earlier this week, the consensus around OpenAI was that the company was a lying, rapacious soul stealer. A company that wanted to use Scarlett Johansson to promote its product — and when she declined, went ahead and did it anyway, using a fake Scarlett Johansson. Here's the problem: The second version of reality is the one OpenAI itself is pushing. And OpenAI is a relatively young company, with a particularly chaotic history, which includes a foundational fight with Elon Musk and last year's well-publicized Thanksgiving coup-that-wasn't. Now they're telling us they can't handle the most basic stuff, like telling the left hand what the right hand is doing.

Persons: OpenAI, Scarlett Johansson, —, Scarlett Johansson —, Sam Altman, Johansson —, Altman, Joanne Jang, Jang, Mira Murati, Elon Musk, It's Organizations: Washington Post, bumblers, Apple, Microsoft Locations: Washington

☆ OpenAI is really, really trying to show it didn't copy Scarlett Johansson's voice
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

OpenAI's "Sky" voice was not created to sound like Scarlett Johansson, The Washington Post reported. The agent for the actor who voiced "Sky" told the outlet Johansson was never mentioned by OpenAI. Johansson said the bot's voice was "eerily similar" to her own, despite declining to be involved. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementChatGPT's "Sky" voice was never explicitly intended to sound like Scarlett Johansson, according to documents that OpenAI shared with The Washington Post.

Persons: Scarlett Johansson, Johansson, OpenAI, — Organizations: Washington Post, Service, The Washington Post, OpenAI, Business

☆ The Increasing Trumpification of TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Anjali Huynh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Donald Trump isn’t on TikTok. The social-media platform, though still regarded as a hub for Democratic voices and liberal causes, has seen an uptick of right-wing, pro-Trump influencers since the last presidential election. Pearson, a social-media influencer with nearly 149,000 followers on TikTok who co-chairs the Republican National Committee’s youth advisory council. But TikTok still presents challenges as the former president seeks to regain the White House. And Republican politicians — including Mr. Trump — have largely resisted joining the platform, with many having vocally opposed it.

Persons: Donald Trump isn’t, Biden, TikTok, influencers, ”, C.J, Pearson, Trump Organizations: Democratic, Trump, Biden, National, PAC, TikTok Locations: U.S, Gaza

☆ The Washington Post publisher disclosed the paper lost $77 million last year. Here’s his plan to turn it around
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Lewis’ plan, however, included more than just revamping The Post’s subscription offerings. While The Post clearly plans to bet big on infusing its products with A.I., it wants to emphasize the human element of its journalism. Whether the multi-pronged initiative is enough to turn The Post around, of course, remains to be seen. But the new publisher voiced confidence that these measures will put The Post on track for success. “I really hope at some point in the future, when you look back on this day,” he told staffers, “it’s actually quite a significant day in the history of our company.”

Persons: Will Lewis, strode, Lewis, “, ” Lewis, I’m, Axios, we’ve, ” Karl Wells, Lewis ’, Vineet Khosla, ”, Sally Buzbee, Kathy Baird, “ it’s Organizations: New York CNN, The Washington Post, Brit, Apple, POLITICO, Silicon Locations: New York

☆ Abortion rights advocates fight waiting periods and other limits amid political fallout of Roe reversal
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Longstanding abortion restrictions like waiting periods and provider regulations are now under legal attack in states where Roe v. Wade’s reversal prompted voters to amend their state constitutions to protect abortion rights. But the success abortion rights advocates have had in passing such measures in purple states and even Ohio – where Republicans have dominated recent elections – is notable. Anti-abortion activists say that abortion rights advocates are stretching the constitutional amendments beyond their meaning, suggesting that voters in other states should be wary. Abortion rights advocates say that the legal landscape differs state by state, so it’s difficult to predict the litigation that could come out of the proposed amendments if adopted. There are campaigns for initiatives to expand abortion rights in several other states, but only in a few states so far have abortion rights advocates cleared the required hurdles to guarantee the proposals will be on the ballot.

Persons: Roe, ’ pushback, Dobbs, ’ ”, Rabia Muqaddam, ”, Meagan Burrows, Katie Daniel, Susan B, Anthony Pro, Dana Nessel, Eric Restuccia, “, ” Genevieve Marnon, Casey –, Dave Yost, ” Yost, Casey, Yost, Jessica Arons, “ We’re, ” Arons Organizations: CNN, ACLU, Jackson, Health, Center for Reproductive Rights, Republicans, Democrat, Democratic, Republican, “ Voters Locations: Ohio, Michigan, In Ohio, Michigan and Ohio, California, Florida , Arizona , Missouri, Dobbs, Roe, Arizona

☆ Op-ed: How activist investors are deactivating with proxy battle losses
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Jeffrey Sonnenfeld | Steven Tian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Whether today's activist investors contribute any genuine economic value is open for debate. As this year's proxy season draws to a close, defeat after defeat for activist investors in proxy fights this year – most prominently at Disney and Norfolk Southern – raises the question: Are activist investors increasingly getting de-activated, losing their credibility and power? These self-styled "activist investors" are distinct from the original activists who helped catalyze needed governance reforms two decades back. Many of today's activist investors are a far cry from the original, heroic crusaders for shareholder value who pioneered the activism space decades ago. However, given the failing financial performance of many of today's activist investors, their losing streak in proxy fights and increasing public rejection of their bullying tactics, the credibility and value of activist investors writ large is increasingly imperiled.

Persons: Nelson Peltz's, Ed Garden, Ralph Whitworth, John Biggs of TIAA, John Bogle of, Ira Millstein, Weil, Nell Minow, Bob Monks, Harvard's Stephen Davis, Carl Icahn's, Aubrey McClendon, –, Bill Cohan, Jamie Dimon, Glass Lewis, resoundingly, Mason Morfit's ValueAct, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Lester, Steven Tian Organizations: CNBC, Salesforce, Dow Jones, Disney, Norfolk Southern, Relational Investors, John Bogle of Vanguard, Services, Chesapeake, Norfolk, JetBlue, Elanco, of Institutional Investors, United Shareholders Association, Responsibility Research, ISS, Lester Crown, Management, Yale University, Yale's, Institute Locations: Norfolk Southern, greenmailers, America

☆ Want to fit in while in Japan? Follow these unusually specific 'life rules' issued by the government
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Vivien Soo | Penny Sadler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

But before they pack their bags, they may want to read Japan's "Life and Work Guidebook," which is aimed at helping foreigners fit in. But the chapter on "Daily Rules and Customs" is where foreigners will find specific guidance on "life rules" that illustrate Japan's emphasis on collectivism and respect. Not only party and music levels should be kept to a minimum, but also "voices" and "TV" levels, the guidebook states. A Japanese guidebook for foreigners advises against making noise by using washing machines early in the morning or late at night. "Be sure that your music is not too loud and cannot be overheard outside of the earphones," the guidebook states.

Persons: they're, Recep Organizations: Japan's Immigration Services Agency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cyclists, Getty, Foreigners Locations: Japan, Tokyo, Daj

☆ India’s free press is not so free after a decade of Modi
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Analysis Aishwarya S. Iyer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

And as Modi looks to win another five years in power in an ongoing nationwide election, critics fear further erosion of the protections afforded to India’s free press. “I think many times before I write stories,” Kappan told CNN. Since his bail, Kappan has struggled to find a permanent job to provide for his family. Kumar told CNN he resigned because Adani’s proximity to Modi and the BJP would leave him unable to continue asking tough questions of the government. “They gave no reasons nor any justifications for why they denied my permit,” she told CNN from Paris.

Persons: Siddique Kappan, Narendra Modi’s, Modi, “, ” Kappan, Kappan, ”, Kaushik Raj, Narendra Modi, Gareth Copley, Shakuntala Banaji, RSF, Kunal Majumder, NewsClick, Prabir Purkayastha, Banaji, Kanchan Gupta, Ravish Kumar, Kumar, Gautam Adani, Vishal Bhatnagar, Dinesh Joshi, Gupta, Avani Dias, Vanessa Dougnac, Dias, Gaurav Bhatia, Dougnac Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, CNN, Getty, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, ICC Men's Cricket, India, Journalists, London School of Economics, “, Press, ”, Protect Journalists, Police, LSE, Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, Amnesty, New Delhi Television, NDTV, YouTube, Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s, Ministry of Home Affairs, India’s, Ministry, BBC Locations: New Delhi, India, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, AFP, Hathras, Paris, Ahmedabad, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Delhi, Jaipur, Modi, Asia, Dougnac

☆ Why OpenAI should fear a Scarlett Johansson lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

“It doesn’t matter if OpenAI used any of Scarlett Johansson’s actual voice samples,” Li posted on Threads. Here, Johansson could accuse OpenAI of illegally monetizing who she is by essentially fooling users into thinking she had voiced Sky. But there’s substantial case law — and one very inconvenient fact for OpenAI — undercutting that defense, legal experts say. According to Johansson, OpenAI approached her to perform as Sky; Johansson declined. While California’s publicity law protects all individuals, some state statutes only protect famous people, and not all states have such legislation on the books.

Persons: Will Scarlett Johansson, OpenAI, Johansson, OpenAI’s, Sam Altman, OpenAI didn’t, demoed, Tiffany Li, Scarlett Johansson’s, ” Li, monetizing, John Bergmayer, “, ”, —, Bette Midler, Midler, Tom Waits, Waits, …, James Grimmelmann, Scarlett Johansson ”, Altman, Sky’s, Johansson ”, Samantha, ‘, ” Grimmelmann, Joel Saget, ” Bergmayer, Dana Rao, Adobe’s, we’re, Jennifer Rothman, ” Rothman Organizations: Washington CNN, University of San, Public, Ford Motor Company, Appeals, Circuit, Frito, Cornell University, Getty, Adobe, FAIR, University of Pennsylvania Locations: University of San Francisco, California, Midler’s, Paris, AFP

☆ Scarlett Johansson says she declined Sam Altman's offer to voice ChatGPT. Now she's lawyered up after an 'eerily similar' voice was released.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"We believe that AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity's distinctive voice — Sky's voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice," the blog post said. AdvertisementIn a statement provided to BI, Altman said the Sky voice is not Johansson and was not intended to be similar to hers. "We cast the voice actor behind Sky's voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky's voice in our products," Altman said. "We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn't communicate better."

Persons: —, Scarlett Johansson, OpenAI, Sam Altman's, Johansson, Altman, Sky's, Katie Notopoulos, Sam Altman Organizations: Service, Business, BI

☆ Sundar Pichai says OpenAI might have breached YouTube's terms and conditions to train its text-to-video model Sora
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewOpenAI might've breached YouTube's terms and conditions to train its text-to-video model Sora, says Google CEO Sundar Pichai. "So you felt like they had broken your terms and conditions, or potentially, or if they had, that wouldn't have been appropriate?" Sundar Pichai says he believes OpenAI's Sora breached YouTube's terms and conditions and he is sympathetic to creators whose content is being used to train AI models pic.twitter.com/mF1D6XjYf8 — Tsarathustra (@tsarnick) May 20, 2024Earlier in the interview, Pichai revealed that YouTube was still "following up and trying to understand" how OpenAI had trained Sora. "We have terms and conditions, and we would expect people to abide by those terms and conditions when you build a product, so that's how I felt about it." AdvertisementJohansson said in a statement that she had turned down OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's offer to voice its latest GPT-4o model.

Persons: —, Sora, Sundar Pichai, Nilay Patel, Pichai, OpenAI's Sora, OpenAI, Mira Murati, Joanna Stern, Stern, Murati, I'm, Neal Mohan, Emily Chang, would've, Mohan, didn't, Scarlett Johansson, Johansson, Sam Altman's, Spike Jonze's, We’ve Organizations: Service, Business, YouTube, coy, Google, BI Locations: Amazon, ChatGPT

OpenAI’s Scarlett Johansson problemWhen OpenAI unveiled the latest version of ChatGPT last week, a chatbot that can listen to spoken questions and respond verbally, many users had one question: Is that Scarlett Johansson? It’s another sign of eroding trust in OpenAI, which has taken fire from creative industries and former employees. In her statement, Johansson shed more light on the matter:Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system. Altman tried again two days before the ChatGPT product announcement, she added, but released the service before they could connect. Johansson — no stranger to waging war against big companies — suggested that she was ready to take legal action.

Persons: OpenAI’s Scarlett Johansson, OpenAI, Scarlett Johansson, ”, OpenAI —, ” Johansson, Sam Altman, Mira Murati, Johansson, Altman, Johansson —, — Locations: OpenAI

☆ I'm an American mom living in France. I've never seen a screen out during meal time and French kids are always well-dressed.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Erica Jackson Curran | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

And yet, when I'm in Mom Mode with my 7-year-old son, Oliver, I just can't hide the fact that I'm American. This kind of helicopter behavior is fairly common among American parents — but less so in France. French kids are always impeccably dressedIt may sound like French kids are running wild, but that's not the case — and their wardrobes are evidence of that. I've rarely seen French kids with screens (or sodas) at a restaurant. AdvertisementWe've learned that French kids usually snack only once per day, during "gouter" which is around 4:30 p.m., when they get out of school.

Persons: Oliver, I've, —, that's, He's, he's, I'm, they're, iPads I've, Coke, We've Organizations: Service, Adidas Locations: Bordeaux, France, American, French

☆ What We Lose When ChatGPT Sounds Like Scarlett Johansson
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Alissa Wilkinson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Siri, the mildly reliable virtual assistant for that phone, came along a few years later. assistant with whom the sad-sack divorcé Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) fell in love in “Her,” felt like a futuristic revelation. Voiced by Scarlett Johansson, Samantha was similar to Siri, if Siri liked you and wanted you to like her back. In theory, everyone in “Her” was using their own version of Samantha, presumably with different names and voices. Those who watched the live demo from OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, were quick to note that she sounded a whole lot like Samantha — which is to say, like Johansson.

Persons: Spike, Siri, Samantha, divorcé Theodore Twombly, Joaquin Phoenix, ”, Scarlett Johansson, —, Theodore, Samantha —, Johansson Locations: “

☆ OpenAI pulls ChatGPT's 'Sky' voice after users compared it with Scarlett Johansson
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

OpenAI plans to pause ChatGPT's "Sky" voice after it was compared with Scarlett Johansson. The company said the voice was not an imitation of Johansson and belongs to a different actor. Many have compared to the chatbot's voice to Johansson's character in Spike Jonze's "Her." AdvertisementOpenAI said it would "pause" ChatGPT's "Sky" voice after it sparked comparisons with Scarlett Johansson. Many social-media users linked the latest update to Jonze's prophetic film, comparing the voice with Johansson's character in Spike Jonze's 2013 film "Her."

Persons: Scarlett Johansson, Johansson, Jonze's, —, OpenAI, We've, Spike Jonze's Organizations: Service, Business Locations: ChatGPT

☆ OpenAI puts flirty ChatGPT voice that sounds like ScarJo in ‘Her’ on hold
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Brian Fung | Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —OpenAI says it’s hitting the pause button on a synthetic voice released with an update to ChatGPT that prompted comparisons with a fictional voice assistant portrayed in the quasi-dystopian film “Her” by actor Scarlett Johansson. “We’ve heard questions about how we chose the voices in ChatGPT, especially Sky,” OpenAI said in a post on X Monday. A spokesperson for the company said that structure would help OpenAI better achieve its safety objectives. OpenAI President Greg Brockman responded in a longer post on Saturday, which was signed with both his name and Altman’s, laying out the company’s approach to long-term AI safety. “We have raised awareness of the risks and opportunities of AGI so that the world can better prepare for it,” Brockman said.

Persons: New York CNN — OpenAI, Scarlett Johansson, OpenAI, “ We’ve, ” OpenAI, “, Desi Lydic, ”, ” Lydic, Joaquin Phoenix, Everett, Sam Altman, Johansson, Jan Leike, Ilya Sutskever, Altman, Leike, Greg Brockman, ” Brockman Organizations: New, New York CNN, Daily, Warner Bros ., White, CNN Locations: New York, ChatGPT, OpenAI

☆ Exxon faces opposition from CalPERS after 'devastating' anti-ESG activist suit
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Exxon Mobil 's monthslong battle with two environmentally focused activist investors has cost the company the support of the California Public Employees' Retirement System. The two activists submitted a shareholder proposal that would have forced the company to reduce direct emissions and set a target for lowering emissions at suppliers and customers. Exxon sued the investors in Texas federal court in January, prompting them to withdraw the proposal. Even with the activists backing off, Exxon has continued its lawsuit to prevent the activists from ever again submitting such a proposal. CalPERS said in its letter that Exxon's "reckless" lawsuit threatened shareholder activism efforts on any issue.

Persons: Darren Woods, Arjuna, CalPERS, Marcie Frost, Theresa Taylor, it's, Greg Goff, Kaisa Hietala, Andy Karsner, Jeff Ubben Organizations: APEC, Summit, Moscone West, Exxon Mobil, California Public Employees, Exxon, CNBC, ExxonMobil, Securities and Exchange Commission, Inclusive Capital Locations: San Francisco , California, Texas

☆ More OpenAI chaos puts Sam Altman on the back foot
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

AdvertisementIt's a rare admission from Altman, who has worked hard to cultivate an image of being relatively calm amid OpenAI's ongoing chaos. Safety team implosionOpenAI has been in full damage control mode following the exit of key employees working on AI safety. He said the safety team was left "struggling for compute, and it was getting harder and harder to get this crucial research done." Silenced employeesThe implosion of the safety team is a blow for Altman, who has been keen to show he's safety-conscious when it comes to developing super-intelligent AI. The usually reserved Altman even appeared to shade Google, which demoed new AI products the following day.

Persons: —, Jan Leike, Ilya Sutskever, Sam Altman, Altman, Leike, Leopold Aschenbrenner, Pavel Izmailov, Daniel Kokotajlo, William Saunders, Cullen O'Keefe, Kokotajlo, Vox, OpenAI, Joe Rogan's, Neel Nanda, i've, Scarlett Johansson, OpenAI didn't Organizations: Service, Business, AGI

☆ Scarlett Johansson says OpenAI ripped off her voice after she told the company not to use it in software
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

ROME, ITALY - NOVEMBER 10: Actor Scarlett Johansson attends 'Her' Premiere during The 8th Rome Film Festival at Auditorium Parco Della Musica on November 10, 2013 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)Actor Scarlett Johansson says OpenAI CEO Sam Altman used a voice similar to hers for its artificial intelligence voice software despite declining his invitation for its use. "Sky's voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice," the company wrote in a blog post on Sunday. Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr. Altman contacted my agent, asking me to reconsider. Consequently, OpenAI reluctantly agreed to take down the "Sky" voice.

Persons: Scarlett Johansson, Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Sam Altman, OpenAI, Johansson, Altman, Samantha, " Johansson, Mr, Walt Disney, We've, OpenAI didn't, Scarlett Johansson's Organizations: Parco, Musica, CNBC, Disney, Microsoft Locations: ROME, ITALY, Rome, Italy, ChatGPT

☆ OpenAI pulls ChatGPT AI voice over its resemblance to Scarlett Johansson in the movie 'Her'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

OpenAI announced it would pull one of the ChatGPT voices named "Sky" after it created controversy for its resemblance to the voice of actress Scarlett Johansson in "Her," a movie about artificial intelligence. "We've heard questions about how we chose the voices in ChatGPT, especially Sky," the Microsoft -backed company posted on X. The news comes one week after OpenAI debuted a range of audio voices for ChatGPT, its viral chatbot, a new AI model called GPT-4o, and a desktop version of ChatGPT. Users watching the live demonstration of ChatGPT's audio capabilities immediately began to post on social media that the "Sky" voice sounded like Johansson in the movie. "Sky's voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice," the company wrote.

Persons: Scarlett Johansson, Radhika Jones, We've, Samantha, Johansson, OpenAI, Sam Altman, —, Anthropic, Mark Chen Organizations: Wallis Annenberg Center, Performing Arts, OpenAI, Microsoft, ChatGPT, Google Locations: Beverly Hills , California, ChatGPT, Ember

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