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☆ Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan told leaders of its charity to 'clarify' their work. The result was layoffs, a plan to invest in AI, and a tacit admission their big education project failed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The organization will no longer be granting money toward educational policy, a big part of CZI's work since its founding, the emails said. As part of its "refreshed strategy," CZI said it is "transitioning" how it supports Summit Learning. The new strategy, laid out to CZI's roughly 500 employees, is to find new education products. Politics was one of its founding areas of work, alongside education and the eradication of all disease. "I give it two more years," one of the people familiar said of CZI's current education work.

Persons: Zuckerberg, Chan, Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, Chan Zuckerberg, CZI, Sandra Liu Huang Organizations: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Meta, Facebook, Summit, Summit Public Schools, National Education Policy Center, University of Colorado Locations: CZI, California, Washington, Boulder

☆ MLB roundup: Michael Lorenzen tosses no-hitter in home debut for Phillies
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

St. Louis received contributions throughout its lineup, with Nootbaar collecting two hits, an RBI and two runs scored. Mariners 6, Padres 1Cal Raleigh hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning as Seattle defeated visiting San Diego. Matt Vierling had three hits, scored two runs and drove in another. Joey Gallo hit a two-run homer and Correa added a solo shot for Minnesota, which will try to salvage the split on Thursday. At the plate, Ohtani went 0-for-2 with two walks (one intentional) and a run scored.

Persons: Rob Thomson, Michael Lorenzen, Bill Streicher, Lorenzen, Dominic Smith flied, Johan Rojas, Cole Hamels, David Peralta, Freddie Freeman, Jason Heyward, Bobby Miller, Kyle Nelson, Peralta, Freeman, Will Smith, Austin, Michael Harris, Carmen Mlodzinski, Ronald Acuna Jr, Ozzie Albies, Max Fried, Pierce Johnson, Raisel Iglesias, Bryan De La Cruz's, Josh Bell's, Jon Berti, Luis Arraez, Bell, Sam Moll, De La Cruz, Alexis Diaz, Tanner Scott, A.J Puk, David Robertson, Christian Encarnacion, Strand, Freddy Tarnok, Zack Gelof, Oakland's, Jonah, Jordan Montgomery, Esteury Ruiz, Jordan Diaz, Mark Canha, Justin Lawrence, William Contreras, Frelick groundout, Ezequiel Tovar's, Monasterio's grounder, Cole Tucker, Tovar, Canha bobbled, Profar, Bryse Wilson, Ryan McMahon, Kyle Tucker, Jose Altuve, Altuve, Alex Bregman, Cristian Javier, Austin Hays, Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso, Justin Verlander, Alonso, Seiya Suzuki, Christopher Morel, Suzuki, Paul Goldsmith, Lars Nootbaar, Louis, Jordan Walker, Giovanny Gallegos, Jose Siri, Jalen Beeks, Kevin Kelly, Nootbaar, Kevin Gausman, George Springer, Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Kole Calhoun, Casas, Alex Verdugo, Nick Pivetta, MJ Melendez, Seattle's, Emerson Hancock, Yu Darvish, Oscar Colas, Elvis Andrus, Mike Clevinger, Luis Severino, Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu, Spencer Torkelson, Matt Vierling, Miguel Cabrera, Zach McKinstry, Eric Haase, Alex Faedo, Tyler Holton, Joey Gallo, Correa, Bailey Ober, Ohtani, Mike Moustakas, Michael Conforto, Brandon Crawford's Organizations: Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals, Citizens Bank, Wednesday, Detroit Tigers, Phillies, Chicago Cubs, NBC Sports Philadelphia, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Braves, Pirates, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Marlins, Reds, Miami, Cincinnati, Athletics, Rangers, Oakland, Brewers, Rockies, Milwaukee, The Brewers, Astros, Orioles, Houston, Baltimore, Mets, Cubs, New, Chicago, Houston Astros, Cardinals, Rays, Hudson, Tampa, Blue Jays, Toronto, Cleveland, Guardians, Red Sox, Royals, Boston, Kansas City, Mariners, Padres, Cal Raleigh, Seattle, San, Sox, Yankees, Twins, Detroit, Tigers, Minnesota, Giants, cramp, Thomson Locations: Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, USA, Angeles, Arizona, Phoenix, Texas, Colorado, Baltimore, New York, Tampa, St . Petersburg, Fla, Tampa Bay, San Diego, Toronto, Chicago, Minnesota, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Anaheim , Calif, Ohtani

☆ Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's charity organization is making a major change in strategy after laying off 48 people. Read the leaked emails.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative conducted layoffs this week, in a major blow to its education team. However, the cuts were entirely focused on employees in tech and grantmaking in CZI's education department, a core pillar of the organization's since its founding. As part of the changes, two leaders in CZI's education work are leaving their roles. While today's announcement most directly impacts our Education teammates, I know we are all affected regardless of where we sit in the organization. I am grateful for all of our Education teammates, past and present, whose contributions made our accomplishments to-date possible and carved our path forward.

Persons: Chan Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Chan, Brooke Stafford, CZI's, Dakarai Aarons, Sandra Liu Huang, Huang, CZI, Slack, Brizard, Brooke, Dakarai, Sandra, Priscilla Organizations: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Meta, CZI, Facebook, Education Policy Center, University of Colorado, Education, People Team Locations: Meta, Boulder

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's 'Year of Efficiency' spreads from Meta to Priscilla Chan's charitable organization, which just laid off dozens of people
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is a charitable vehicle for the wealthy couple. The charitable foundation of Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan conducted its first layoff this week. The cuts at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative impacted 48 employees, according to two people familiar with the company. Over at Meta, employees there have dealt with layoffs since November, as the company looked to reduce costs in the face of slowing revenue growth and massive expenses on Zuckerberg's metaverse ambitions. It seems that mandate has made its way over to the CEO's charitable initiative as well.

Persons: Chan Zuckerberg, CZI, Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, Chan, Raymonde Charles, Charles, Zuckerberg Organizations: Harvard University, Meta, Facebook Locations: Meta

☆ Meta is rehiring some of the thousands of workers it's laid off
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Many people let go by Meta are being rehired, although it can be for less pay than before. Many people laid off by Meta over the last several months are getting offers to rejoin the company. Any worker who was laid off from Meta since November has been allowed to reapply for available jobs, typically through a specific "alumni portal." And essentially all of the open roles are for individual contributor level work, as Meta has dramatically reduced its manager ranks . Still, the ratio of hiring "is 10:1" in favor of those who were recently laid off from Meta, another person familiar said.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, he'd, aren't Organizations: Meta, Facebook, Twitter Locations: Meta

☆ Big Tech used to pay engineers the most. Now, these smaller companies offer tech workers top compensation.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Major tech companies are reserving big pay packages for the most experienced engineers in the industry. A few years of fierce competition for all levels of tech talent, particularly engineers, among the biggest tech companies drove some eye-popping compensation packages. The Median compensation for an L4 level engineer at Netflix, which implies two or more years of experience, was $312,000. An L5 at Netflix, an engineer with 5 or more years of experience, earned a median compensation of $550,000. Brex, which offers corporate credit cards and an expense management tool, is paying engineers with five or more years of experience median compensation of $450,000.

Persons: Levels.fyi, That's, Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, Kali Hays Organizations: Facebook, Netflix, Google, Meta, Apple, Microsoft Locations: Levels.fyi, khays

☆ Orioles beat up on Blue Jays in Hyun Jin Ryu's debut
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Field Level Media | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/37] Aug 1, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Hyun Jin Ryu (99) pitches to the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY SportsAugust 2 - Anthony Santander was 3-for-4 with a grand slam and right-hander Kyle Bradish pitched seven innings to lead the visiting Baltimore Orioles past the Toronto Blue Jays 13-3 on Tuesday night. The Orioles have won all five games in Toronto and lead the season series with the Blue Jays 7-1. Danny Jansen hit a two-run home run and Brandon Belt added a solo shot for the Blue Jays. Jordan Hicks, obtained in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, allowed Ryan McKenna's two-run single in the ninth in his Blue Jays debut.

Persons: Hyun Jin Ryu, John E, Anthony Santander, Kyle Bradish, Gunnar Henderson, Ryan Mountcastle, Danny Jansen, Tommy John, Mountcastle, Henderson, Ramon Urias, Chapman, Jansen, Ryu, Jorge Mateo, Genesis Cabrera, Austin Hays, Nate Pearson, Jordan Hicks, Ryan McKenna's, Bo Bichette, Paul DeJong, Louis, Baltimore, Jack Flaherty, St Organizations: CAN, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Rogers Centre, Orioles, Blue Jays, Toronto, Brandon, Baltimore, Santander, Louis Cardinals, Thomson Locations: Toronto , Ontario, Toronto

☆ Meta hired consultancy firm Bain & Co. before Mark Zuckerberg's big 'efficiency' push, foreshadowing layoffs and cost-cutting
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Zuckerberg last year started to get serious about reducing expenses at Meta. Ahead of this shift, Meta hired the large consulting firm Bain & Co. Before Mark Zuckerberg embarked on his "Year of Efficiency" at Meta, the company brought in a well-known consulting firm to look at its costs. Meanwhile, the company published research on the consumer opportunity in Southeast Asia, a project done in partnership with Bain. Despite already letting go more than 20,000 employees, or about 25% of Meta's workforce, the company is poised to get even smaller this year.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, Mark Zuckerberg's, Bain, Zuckerberg, they'd, Kali Hays Organizations: Meta, Bain & Co, Facebook, Bain, Twitter Locations: Southeast Asia, khays

☆ Alix Dorsainvil: What we know about the American nurse kidnapped with her child in Haiti
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Alisha Ebrahimji | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Before Alix Dorsainvil was kidnapped with her child in Haiti, the American nurse described Haitians as a “resilient people” who are “full of joy and life and love.”Her comments came in a video on the website of El Roi Haiti, the Christian humanitarian aid organization for which she works. Dorsainvil, the wife of El Roi Haiti Director Sandro Dorsainvil, and their child were reportedly abducted Thursday morning while serving in their community ministry on El Roi Haiti’s campus near the capital city Port-au-Prince, according to a statement from the non-profit. The same day, the US State Department ordered the departure of nonemergency government personnel from Haiti as the security situation in the country deteriorates. Dorsainvil, a nurse from New Hampshire, moved to Haiti after her husband invited her to the Haitian school to provide nursing care for the children, Dorsainvil explained in an undated video on the organization’s website. “Please pray for Alix Dorsainvil,” the school said.

Persons: Alix Dorsainvil, ”, Dorsainvil, El Roi, Sandro Dorsainvil, Sandro Dorsainvil’s alma, ” Dorsainvil, “, ” El, ” “ Alix, Jesus, Antoinette Hays Organizations: CNN, El Roi Haiti, US State Department, Authorities, United, School, State Department, U.S . Department of State, Department of State, U.S, Cornerstone Christian Academy, Regis College, ” Regis Locations: Haiti, El Roi Haiti, El, El Roi Haiti’s, Port, United States, Canada, United Nations, New Hampshire, Montana, ” El Roi Haiti, U.S, Wakefield, Weston , Massachusetts

☆ Before-and-after video from inside Elon Musk's new X-themed HQ shows old Twitter bird logos coming down and lots of black paint
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Kylie Kirschner | Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk rolled out a major rebrand of Twitter as "X" a week ago. The Twitter sign was removed earlier this week and an X was projected onto the building. Videos from inside the HQ shows the bird logos removed, black walls, and X-themed conference rooms. Elon Musk's sweeping rebrand of Twitter has extended to the walls and conference room inside the company's San Francisco headquarters. One marketing expert called the Twitter rebrand "completely irrational."

Persons: Elon Musk, Elon Musk's, Jenner Balagot, Ralph, Musk, Musk's Tesla, Grimes Organizations: Twitter, Morning, San, San Francisco, PayPal, X Holdings, xAI Locations: San Francisco

☆ Top Meta executive said the company's name change was a success because it beat out coverage of the 'Facebook Papers' revelations
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Zuckerberg called it "ridiculous" to connect a new name to ongoing "Facebook Papers" coverage. Cox said the name change was successful, explaining his measure of success was the amount of press coverage of the name change compared to the whistleblower disclosures. "It was more than double the volume of the Facebook Papers coverage," Cox said on the call. "And it was a really big deal because Facebook Papers was a big story, especially inside the US." Are you a Meta employee or someone else with insight to share?

Persons: Meta's, Mark Zuckerberg, Chris Cox, revel, Frances Haugen, Cox, Sheryl Sandberg, Eric Schiffer, Kali Hays Organizations: Facebook, Morning, Meta, Wall Street Journal, Twitter Locations: khays

☆ The strange, improbable rise of Mark Zuckerberg 3.0
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

In early July, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the latest and perhaps most consequential product in Meta's history: a new model of Mark Zuckerberg. Silicon Valley Zuck was a husband and father with a legacy to build and protect at all costs. Silicon Valley Zuck was suddenly faced with something he'd never dealt with before, shrinking revenue. Still clinging to his persona as Silicon Valley Zuck, Zuckerberg engaged in an all-out media blitz to hawk his vision for the metaverse. They were the sort of people Harvard Zuck would have scoffed at and Silicon Valley Zuck would have gently ignored.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg, Clark Kent, TikTok, Sheryl Sandberg, Mike Schroepfer, Wall, McKinsey Zuck, Rogan, Meta, Harvard Zuck, —, Priscilla Chan, Ray's, pullover, Harvard Zuck —, Dianna, Mick, McDougall, Paul Sakuma, Zuckerberg's, Apple, Facebook, he'd, That's, Frances Haugen, Chris Cox, Zuck, Zach Gibson, Meta's, Sandberg, Marne Levine, who'd, Javier Olivan, he's, bode, Bain, Maher Saba, Lori Goler, He's, He'd, Katie Harbath, it's, Andrew Bosworth, Bosworth, Mark Zuckerberg McKinsey Zuck, Mark Shmulik, Bernstein, Augustus, Julius Caesar, Kali Hays Organizations: Meta, Menlo, Harvard, Apple, McKinsey, Business, Facebook, Cambridge, Capitol, Labs, Menlo Park, Q, Bain & Company, Reality Labs, Wall, Mark Zuckerberg McKinsey, Phillips Exeter Academy, Tech, Twitter Locations: California, Hawaii, United States, Davos, Silicon, contrition, Meta, verbiage, Harvard, Rome

☆ MLB roundup: Benches clear, Rangers slam Astros
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

He gave up two runs on eight hits over 6 2/3 innings with no walks and three strikeouts. Javier Assad (1-2) was the winner with 1 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish (6-6) gave up seven hits and five runs with three strikeouts and two walks in 6 2/3 innings. Joe Ryan (9-7) absorbed the loss in allowing four runs on seven hits over 3 2/3 innings. Marsh (0-5) allowed four runs and five hits in 2 2/3 innings, striking out three and walking four.

Persons: Jeremy Pena, Marcus Semien, Erik Williams, Adolis Garcia, Framber Valdez, Seth Martinez, Garcia's, Martin Maldonado, Houston's Yordan Alvarez, plunked, Nathaniel Lowe, Sam Huff, Andrew Heaney, Alex Bregman, Yainer Diaz, Freddy Peralta, Tyrone Taylor, Peralta, Elvis Peguero, Ben Lively, Taylor, Carlos Rodon, Oswald Peraza, Isiah Kiner, Falefa, Anthony Volpe, Jose Quintana, Nico Hoerner, Ian Happ, Happ, Cody Bellinger, Javier Assad, Adbert Alzolay, Joe Kelly, Louis, Nolan Gorman, Lars Nootbaar, Paul Goldschmidt, Andrew Knizner, Christian Walker, Emmanuel Rivera, Walker, Jake McCarthy, Corbin Carroll, Edmundo Sosa, Realmuto, Jake Cave, Nick Castellanos, Bryce Harper, Seranthony Dominguez, Adley Rutschman, Austin Hays, Kyle Bradish, Dylan Moore, Julio Rodriguez, Bryce Miller, Miller, Andres Munoz, Christian Vazquez, Matt Wallner, Edouard Julien, Vazquez, Trevor Larnach, Kyle Farmer, Joe Ryan, Sandy Alcantara, National League Cy Young, Alcantara, Luis Arraez, Jacob Stallings, Zach Eflin, Austin Slater, J.D, Davis, Oakland's Jace Peterson, Shea Langeliers, Alex Wood, Wilmer Flores, Slater, Michael Conforto, Hogan Harris, Wood, Tyler Rogers, Luke Jackson, Rogers, Jackson, CJ Abrams, Daniel Bard, Matt Koch, Bard, Abrams, Peter Lambert, Andres Machado, Elehuris Montero, Ryan McMahon, Michael Toglia, Whit Merrifield, Yusei Kikuchi, Merrifield, Danny Jansen, Bo Bichette, Tony Gonsolin, Enrique Hernandez, Johan Oviedo, David Bednar, Ji Man Choi, Bryan Reynolds, Carlos Santana, Seth Lugo, Rafael Devers, Casas, Adam Duvall, Justin Turner, Turner, Connor Wong, Brayan Bello, Joe Jacques, Ozzie Albies, Albies, Jose Ramirez, David Fry, Gabriel Arias, Gavin Williams, Nick Sandlin, Williams, Alec Marsh, Marsh, MJ Melendez, Salvador Perez, Freddy Fermin, Michael Massey Organizations: Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, USA, Rangers, American League West, Astros, Houston, Texas, Brewers, Reds, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, National League Central, Yankees, Mets, New, Yankee, Cubs, White Sox, Chicago, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Phillies, Orioles, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Mariners, Seattle, Marlins, Rays, Miami, Tampa, National League, MLB, Giants, Oakland, Rockies, Washington, Colorado, Nationals, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Toronto, Los Angeles, Pirates, Padres, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Oviedo, Red Sox, Braves, Boston, Atlanta, Royals, Cleveland, Kansas City, Guardians, Thomson Locations: Houston , Texas, USA, Semien, Colorado, New York, Arizona, St, Phoenix, Baltimore, Minnesota, Minneapolis, St . Petersburg, Fla, Tampa, Francisco, Los, Los Angeles

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's 'Year of Efficiency' is paying off for Meta
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Mark Zuckerberg's mission to turnaround Meta's fortunes is working. Meta posted revenues of $32 billion for its second quarter – 11% higher than last year. It's a sign that Zuck's "Year of Efficiency" is paying off. Mark Zuckerberg's been a man on a mission. What is certain right now: Zuck's "Year of Efficiency" is working.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg's, Meta, Zuckerberg, We've, OpenAI's, Kali Hays Organizations: Meta, Morning, Reality Labs

☆ Mark Zuckerberg says Meta will 'pour enough gasoline' on Threads to make it grow when it's ready for prime time
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Alistair Barr | Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Zuckerberg sees an "awesome" and unexpected opportunity with Threads. After the record-breaking launch of Threads, the app has been losing ground in recent weeks. "We have a lot of basic work to do," Zuckerberg told analysts during Meta's second-quarter earnings conference call. There are some recent signs that Threads users and engagement are flagging a bit. Are you a Twitter or Meta employee, or someone else with insight to share?

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Meta's, Musk, he's, We're, Kali Hays Organizations: Twitter, Meta, Facebook Locations: playbook, khays

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse losses pass $40 billion. Here's why that's suddenly OK.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta has so far lost more than $40 billion on metaverse projects and expects to lose more. Wall Street is starting to come to terms with the massive amount of money Mark Zuckerberg keeps pouring into the metaverse. With second-quarter results out, collective losses from Reality Labs, the metaverse unit at Meta, has now surpassed $40 billion and more financial pain is on the way. "There are, you know, a billion or 2 billion people who have glasses today. During the second quarter, profit from that family of apps increased by $2 billion, while losses from Reality Labs came in at $3.7 billion.

Persons: Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, hassled Zuckerberg, Kali Hays Organizations: Morning, Reality Labs, Meta, Revenue, Facebook, Twitter Locations: khays

☆ Police crashed Elon Musk's attempt to take down Twitter's sign with a crane
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

As the new logo debuted on the site, efforts were underway to erase a Twitter sign in San Francisco. Elon Musk spirited the "X" logos onto Twitter's site seemingly overnight, but it may take a while longer to change the sign outside his company's headquarters. The San Francisco police department halted the work on Monday afternoon and spoke to workers tasked with removing the sign, according to the San Francisco Standard. A crane was used to remove some of the letters from the Twitter sign on the company's San Francisco office building. San Francisco Police stand next to the crane used to dismantle some of the letters in Twitter's SF office sign.

Persons: Elon, Elon Musk, Justin Sullivan, SFPD, We'll, Shorenstein, Getty, Kali Hays, Sundar Organizations: Twitter, Police, San, San Francisco Standard, X Holdings, San Francisco Police Locations: San Francisco, khays, ssundar

☆ Did Elon Musk buy Twitter? Inside the unexpected acquisition of the social media platform
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Grace Kay | Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk officially reached a deal to buy social media platform Twitter. The billionaire took the company private by paying $54.20 per share, paying about $44 billion in total. In October 2022, billionaire Elon Musk completed a deal to acquire social media platform Twitter for $44 billion after a wild six months. But on April 25, Twitter said it would agree to be acquired by Musk for $44 billion. As a result of the new deal, Twitter's lawsuit against Musk over the $44 billion purchase came to an end.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Twitter, he'd, Parag Agrawal, Ned Segal Organizations: Morning, Twitter

☆ So, that's the end of OpenAI's ChatGPT moat
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In the fast-changing world of AI, OpenAI appeared to have created a powerful moat through ChatGPT. But Meta rolling out its own powerful language model, Llama 2, with few restrictions puts ChatGPT at risk. And unlike OpenAI's ChatGPT, Llama 2 doesn't come with an easy-to-use consumer interface. As the first popular entrant into the generative AI space, OpenAI's chatbot had the advantage of capturing the imaginations of millions before Google, Meta and the rest. But open models were always the threat.

Persons: OpenAI, chatbot, Mark Zuckerberg, Erin Scott, Warren Buffett, ChatGPT, Kali Hays, Rosalie Chan, Nathan Lambert, Lambert, It's Organizations: Meta, Google, Microsoft, ChatGPT, Stanford University, UC Berkeley

☆ Meta's new 'open source' AI isn't so open after all
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Kali Hays | Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Open Source Initiative is concerned by Meta's improper labeling. These standards are maintained by the nonprofit Open Source Initiative (OSI), which also reviews whether software licenses can be approved as open source. Open source in AIThe OSI is currently leading a series of meetings and debates and accepting proposals to formally define what open source means when it comes to AI and the machine learning it uses. According to the OSI's Open Source Definition, an open source software license "shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources." Companies like MongoDB, Redis, Confluent, and Elastic, which have long maintained open source software, changed their software licenses to restrict companies like Amazon from selling their software (which would be possible with a true open source license).

Persons: Meta, Stefano Maffulli, Maffulli, it's, Kali Hays, Rosalie Chan Organizations: Meta, Facebook, Initiative, OSI, Apple, Twitter Locations: US, China, Meta, khays

☆ Meta tells managers promotions will be harder to get, less frequent, and won't be based on team size as much
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Kali Hays | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Managers at Meta have for years been promoted based on the size of the team they built. With an ongoing slowdown in hiring at the company, managers will simply not be able to hire as much as they have in previous years. Another worker commented that taking away team size as a promotion metric means "a manager's career is just up to their ability to navigate politics from now on." For example, to become an engineering manager a person had to show they previously "accumulated" the right size team as a high-level engineer, as Insider previously reported. The new decision to promote fewer managers will make the reduction in Meta's management ranks more permanent.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg's, Maher Saba, Mark Zuckerberg, Saba, Headcount, Zuckerberg, It's, Kali Hays, Hugh Langley Organizations: Meta, Facebook, . Company, Twitter Locations: khays

☆ Elon Musk doesn't have a natural feel for empathy or emotions, says his biographer who's followed him for three years.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Walter Isaacson commended Elon Musk's engineering abilities, but suggested he lacks empathy. Isaacson made the comments on CNBC's Squawk Box, discussing his upcoming biography of Musk. Walter Isaacson, whose upcoming biography about Elon Musk is expected in September, said one of his takeaways from three years of observing the voluble executive is that he may lack empathy. He repeated the idea on CNBC's Squawk Box. In the segment, Isaacson also addressed recent headlines about Musk, including a purported cage match with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Persons: Walter Isaacson, Elon, Isaacson, Elon Musk, Grimes, Musk's, Mark Zuckerberg, Kali Hays, Musk, Musk's Tesla Organizations: Twitter, Meta, Autism, for Disease Control, SpaceX

☆ Meta's new Threads app gained an 'unprecedented' 150 million downloads in under two weeks. Now it has to keep users happy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

With 150 million downloads, Threads set a new record for app growth far surpassing Pokémon Go. Threads has kept about 100 million active users a week, according to a data research firm. Instagram Threads continued to set a growth record into its second week, surpassing 150 million downloads of the app. 100 million active users a week is about one-fifth of the user base of Twitter, Data.ai added. When Zuckerberg posted on Sunday about hitting 100 million sign-ups, that meant Threads had seen an average of 20 million sign-ups each day.

Persons: Pokémon, Randy Nelson, Nelson, Data.ai, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Chris Cox, I've, Zuckerberg, Cox, Andrew Bosworth, Naomi Gleit, Charles Organizations: Twitter, Meta, Elon, CNBC Locations: Niantic, India, Brazil, US, Mexico, Japan

☆ Meta's VP of Metaverse says 'the metaverse hype is dead,' but that's OK
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Haley Tenore | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meta's VP of Metaverse said the hype cycle for the metaverse is dead, but that's okay. The metaverse team can "put their heads down and build" the experiences, Vishal Shah told Fortune. "I think the metaverse hype is dead. People access Meta's metaverse apps through the company's Quest lineup of headsets, but Apple recently announced the $3,499 Vision Pro headset. Interestingly enough, Apple is avoiding the term metaverse in favor of "spatial computing."

Persons: Metaverse, Vishal Shah, Fortune, Shah, Mark Zuckerberg's, Mark Zuckerberg, NOAH BERGER, Zuckerberg, Kali Hays, Ashley Stewart, Meta, Tim Cook, Greg Joswiak, Andrew, Boz, Bosworth Organizations: Morning, Tech, Facebook, Meta, Getty Images, Anadolu Agency, Getty, The Washington Post, Apple, Wall Street Journal Locations: Utah, Menlo

☆ Elon Musk launches new company xAI, which proclaims a lofty mission to 'understand the true nature of the universe'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk officially unveiled his new company xAI on Wednesday. Musk publicly introduced a new company called xAI, whose stated aim is to glean "the true nature of the universe." And an apparently all-male, 12-person team including Musk has been detailed to the heady task, according to its website, which doesn't list any female employees. Hendrycks has published about the potential dangers of AI, including the technology's ability to spread disinformation. With the launch of xAI, Musk now owns or is in charge of half a dozen companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and Twitter.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, xAI's, Tesla, Musk helms, Dan Hendrycks, Hendrycks, Musk's Tesla, Insider's Kali Hays, — Manuel Kroiss, Igor Babuschkin, Babuschkin, Brian Philip Organizations: Morning, X.AI, Tesla, Twitter, X Corp, Microsoft, AI Safety, SpaceX, Center, AI, Palo Alto Police Department, The Boring Company Locations: Nevada, Hendrycks, Palo Alto

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