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☆ It's all unraveling at OpenAI (again)
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-04 | by ( Madeline Berg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

In a statement to Business Insider, an OpenAI spokesperson reiterated the company's commitment to safety, highlighting an "anonymous integrity hotline" for employees to voice their concerns and the company's safety and security committee. Safety second (or third)A common theme of the complaints is that, at OpenAI, safety isn't first — growth and profits are. (In a responding op-ed, current OpenAI board members Bret Taylor and Larry Summers defended Altman and the company's safety standards.) "I have been disagreeing with OpenAI leadership about the company's core priorities for quite some time, until we finally reached a breaking point." (Altman and OpenAI said he recused himself from these deals.)

Persons: —, Sam Altman, Daniel Kokotajlo, OpenAI, Altman, Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley, Toner, McCauley, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, Kokotajlo, Jan Leike, Ilya Sutskever, Leike, Stuart Russell, NDAs, Scarlett Johansson, lawyered, Johansson, " Johansson, I've, Sam Altman — Organizations: Service, New York Times, Business, Times, Twitter, Microsoft, The New York Times, BI, Street, OpenAI, OpenAI's, Apple Locations: OpenAI, Russian, Reddit

☆ Shocking: Some AI developers didn’t listen when a woman rejected their offer
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Back in September, Scarlett Johansson, who played the hauntingly complex AI assistant in the 2013 Spike Jonze film “Her,” got a request from OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman. He wanted to hire Johansson to voice his company’s newest ChatGPT model, “Sky.” She said no. Johansson quickly lawyered up, saying Monday she was “shocked, angered and in disbelief” that Altman would use a voice “so eerily similar” to her own. OpenAI was forced to confront some of those concerns late last week, after two prominent employees left the company. “Being friends with AI will be so much easier than forging bonds with human beings,” wrote Wired editor Brian Barrett in a recent essay about the movie.

Persons: CNN Business ’, you’ve, Scarlett Johansson, Spike Jonze, ”, Sam Altman, Johansson, OpenAI, Altman, Altman —, Jan Leike, OpenAI’s, Ilya Sutskever, ” Altman, “, that’s, Joaquin, Brian Barrett, — CNN’s Clare Duffy, Brian Fung Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Google Locations: New York, Silicon

☆ 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

☆ Tangling with Scarlett Johansson is a move OpenAI may come to regret
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Eammon Jacobs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

OpenAI removed a ChatGPT voice that sounded like Scarlett Johansson after she lawyered up. AdvertisementOpenAI made an enemy of Scarlett Johansson when it launched a ChatGPT voice that sounds a lot like her. The superstar could be a foe that Sam Altman's AI company regrets tangling with. The company had asked her to collaborate on a voice product, she said — but she turned it down. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: OpenAI, Scarlett Johansson, Johansson, —, Sam Altman's Organizations: Disney, Service, Business

☆ Middle East Crisis U.S. Criticizes Israel for Failure to Protect Civilians in the Gaza Conflict
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Michael Crowley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

The report also did not find that Israel had intentionally obstructed humanitarian aid into Gaza. Such a finding would have triggered a U.S. law barring military aid to countries that block such assistance. They argue that Israel has indiscriminately killed civilians with American arms and intentionally hindered U.S.-supplied humanitarian aid. Either would violate U.S. laws governing arms transfers to foreign militaries, as well as international humanitarian law, which is largely based on the Geneva Conventions. The United States provides Israel with $3.8 billion in annual military aid, and Congress last month approved an additional $14 billion in emergency funding.

Persons: Biden, Israel “, —, President Biden, Israel, Israel’s, Israel ”, Brian Finucane, Finucane, “, Chris Van Hollen, Netanyahu, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr, ” “, ”, Josh Paul, Biden’s, John F, Kirby Organizations: State Department, Israel Defense Forces, President, Crisis, United, U.S ., Biden Administration, Israel, The State Department, Central Kitchen Locations: Israel, Gaza, United States, U.S, Rafah, Congress, Geneva, Maryland, ”

☆ Columbia’s administrators failed crisis management 101
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

There’s the day to day admin, the glad-handing of donors, and, crucially, keeping internal fires from becoming public, violent conflagrations. That last one is a public relations lesson, one on which Columbia’s president might need a refresher. In doing so, Columbia’s leadership threw out the playbook for managing protests that universities have honed for decades to keep students safe. To be sure, Columbia’s president, Minouche Shafik, knows her job could be on the line. Meanwhile, thousands of students, parents and alumni are about to descend on Columbia’s campus for commencement, adding more pressure to remove protesters.

Persons: CNN Business ’, ” Sarah J, Jackson, “, ” Jackson, they’re, it’s, Nadia Abu, ” Abu, Haj, Minouche Shafik, UPenn Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN — University, Columbia University, NYPD, University of Pennsylvania, ”, Trustees, comms, Haj, Columbia, New York, Harvard, Brown University, Wesleyan, University of Chicago Locations: New York, Columbia, Nadia Abu El, ” Abu El

☆ GOP leaders pursue new lawsuits over 2024 election rules – including attacking methods of voting they want supporters to use
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Fredreka Schouten | Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

“What he has said is that we would like ultimately there to only be voting on Election Day. Republican attorneys have filed an assortment of lawsuits across the county that vary in both what types of election rules they target and how seriously election law experts believe the case should be taken. The legal fight against mail voting has taken GOP lawyers to states beyond the typical presidential battlegrounds. In addition to the case targeting Mississippi’s post-election day mail ballot receipt deadline, Republicans filed a lawsuit challenging the major expansion of mail voting enacted by New York lawmakers last year. To arrive at the claim that the states’ voter rolls are bloated, Republicans are using a formula that has previously been rebuked in federal court.

Persons: Donald Trump, baselessly, Trump, Mike Johnson, “, ” Michael Whatley, that’s, ” Whatley, Whatley –, –, Rick Hasen, don’t, ” Hasen, Derek Muller, ” Muller, litigators don’t, ”, Justin Levitt, Muller, CNN’s Ariel Edwards, Levy, David Wright Organizations: CNN, Republican, Republican National Committee, Mississippi Republican Party, Magnolia, GOP, Republicans, Democrats, Trump, Trump’s, Fox News, Republican Party, RNC, University of Notre Dame, Fox, New, National Conference of State Legislatures, Pew Research Center, Democratic, Pew, The New, The New York City Council, Vermont, Loyola Law School, Biden White Locations: Magnolia State, Pennsylvania, Ohio , Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Wisconsin, “, California, Colorado, Hawaii , Nevada , Oregon , Utah , Vermont, Washington, Mississippi, New York, Michigan , Wisconsin , Ohio, Arizona, New York City, United States, The New York, – Nevada, Michigan, Nevada

☆ A better way to handle layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Aki Ito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Out of everything that happens in the workplace, nothing underscores the harshly transactional nature of employment more than the way companies terminate their employees. To be sure, there are times when layoffs are necessary for the health — and even survival — of a company. In other words, the pitiless and coldhearted way businesses handle dismissals isn't just destructive to those who get dismissed. Is there a better way to handle layoffs? For starters, Herd says, managers should look the employees they're dismissing in the eye, rather than reading from a script.

Persons: TikTok, Brittany Pietsch, she'd, isn't, Pietsch, they're, you've, — they're, Slack, it's, Sandra Sucher, Sucher, pare, Ashley Herd, Herd, —, Reagan, Aki Ito Organizations: Mafia, Harvard Business School, Nokia, Business

☆ If you win the lottery, here’s what you should (and shouldn’t) do
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Before you broadcast your sudden windfall to the world, and even before you contact lottery officials, you’ll be wise to surround yourself with a team of lawyers and financial advisers. Make copies of both sides of your lottery ticket, and then lock it up somewhere only you can access it. “Find an attorney who has experience dealing with people with this level of wealth, because it is different,” says Herzig. Next up, you’ll need an accountant and a financial adviser to protect your wealth from “creditors and predators,” as Herzig puts it. But there’s one big piece of the lottery puzzle that you can’t farm out to lawyers, and that’s your mental health.

Persons: you’ll, “, ” Belinda Herzig, ”, Gary, who’s, Herzig, you’re Organizations: New York CNN, Mellon Wealth Management, CNN, lotto Locations: New

☆ Trump blasts DOJ over decision to withdraw from E. Jean Carroll lawsuit fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Former U.S. President Donald Trump addresses The Faith and Freedom Coalition's 2023 "Road to Majority" conference in Washington, U.S., June 24, 2023. "The Carroll civil case against me is a Miscarriage of Justice and a total Scam," Trump added. The DOJ's move Tuesday was the latest in a series of bad news for Trump in connection with Carroll, who has two civil suits against him in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The jury did not find Trump liable for rape. The first suit, which relates to statements Trump made about Carroll in 2019, when he was still president, is set to begin trial in January.

Persons: Donald Trump, Jean Carroll, Witch Hunt, lawyered, Clinton, TRUMP, Carroll, Trump, defaming Organizations: U.S, Department of Justice, DOJ, Trump Locations: Washington , U.S, U.S, Manhattan, New York

☆ Ye finally got new lawyers after ghosting the ones who dropped him following his antisemitic rants
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ye, aka Kanye West, got new lawyers months after ghosting his old ones. He's now lawyered up in three lawsuits against him, court records show. Three lawyers at the Santa Fe, California-based firm Weeks Nelson are representing Ye in a lawsuit brought by Thomas St. John, a business management firm. Filings from Thomas St. John show the firm tried to serve Ye with the lawsuit since October without success. The lawyers will likely help Ye avoid default judgments in those cases, where he risked losing automatically without any representation in court.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried's not-guilty plea keeps his options open, says a former federal prosecutor who explains what the criminal case means for investors-turned creditors of FTX
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's lawsuit had alleged that both Ellison and Wang knowingly deceived the public under Bankman-Fried's direction. O'Brien, a former assistant US Attorney for the Department of Justice, specializes in white-collar criminal defense and commercial and securities litigation. "When you get indicted, your first appearance in court, you don't know what the charges are. You're presented with a piece of paper, an indictment, but you don't know what the evidence is." But Bankman-Fried's plea doesn't have much to do with what the outcome will be for investors who lost funds on the exchange, O'Brien noted.

☆ Prosecutors in Georgia are fast approaching a decision on whether to charge Trump. Here's how it would go down.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Over the past year, she empaneled a grand jury and fought court battles to ensure testimony from Gov. Two other high-profile witnesses who fought grand jury subpoenas, Mark Meadows and Newt Gingrich, have their cases before appeals courts. A regular grand jury, which sits for two months, would probably move swiftly, Carlson said, since it would have all the evidence painstakingly compiled by the special grand jury. "The reason it'll go very fast is the regular grand jury will have a transcript from the testimony of a laundry list of witnesses that have already testified to the special grand jury," Carlson said. The case in Georgia, Carlson pointed out, is especially potent because of how uniquely strong the evidence is and how reliable the witnesses would be.

Black users have long been one of Twitter’s most engaged demographics, flocking to the platform to steer online culture and drive real-world social change. But a month after Elon Musk took over, some Black influencers are eyeing the exits just as he races to shore up the company’s business. And while there is no hard data on how many Black users have either joined or left the platform over that period, some prominent influencers say they’re actively pursuing alternatives. Some signs indicate a slowdown among Black Twitter users that predates Musk. “It’s crippling to the economies of cities when Black folks leave, platforms when Black folks leave, entertainment sites when Black folks leave,” she said.

☆ So you won the lottery. What now?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —So, you won the lottery. Before you broadcast your sudden windfall to the world, and even before you contact lottery officials, you’ll be wise to surround yourself with a team of lawyers and financial advisers. Make copies of both sides of your lottery ticket, and then lock it up somewhere only you can access it. But there’s one big piece of the lottery puzzle that you can’t farm out to lawyers, and that’s your mental health. “The curse of the lottery losers is very real,” Andrew Stoltmann, a lawyer who has represented lottery winners, told CNBC.

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