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☆ Enslaved African Americans in Maryland Linked to 42,000 Living Relatives
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Carl Zimmer | More About Carl Zimmer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A construction team working on a highway expansion in Maryland in 1979 discovered human remains on the grounds of an 18th-century ironworks. Eventually, archaeologists uncovered 35 graves in a cemetery where enslaved people had been buried. In the first effort of its kind, researchers now have linked DNA from 27 African Americans buried in the cemetery to nearly 42,000 living relatives. Henry Louis Gates Jr., a historian at Harvard University and an author of the study, published on Thursday in the journal Science, said that the project marked the first time that historical DNA had been used to connect enslaved African Americans to living people. “The history of Black people was intended to be a dark, unlit cave,” Dr. Gates said.

Persons: Henry Louis Gates Jr, Gates Organizations: Harvard University Locations: Maryland

☆ Joe Biden says he'd fire employees who don't take personal time off: It's 'a hell of a lot more important' than your job
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

President Joe Biden has a rule for his staff members: If you don't take time off to tend to your personal life, you might get fired. Upon learning that the staffer "was having trouble at home," Biden told him to skip the Supreme Court hearing. Recalling another instance where he was made aware of an employee's troubles at home, Biden said, "if you don't go home, I'm gonna fire you. Your relationship is a hell of a lot more important than whatever you're doing for me." DON'T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life?

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, —, Jay Shetty's, He's, Bill Gates, Gates, he's Organizations: American Psychological Association, Microsoft, Northern Locations: U.S, Northern Arizona

☆ Search for a Century-Old Shipwreck Turns Up One Even Older
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | More About Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In September, a Discovery Channel film crew traveled to Paradise, Mich., searching for two French naval ships that disappeared in 1918. But on a voyage to find them, they stumbled upon another shipwreck that was four decades older. “Finding the Satellite was hugely exciting and unexpected,” said Mr. Gates. On June 21, 1879, the 15-year-old Satellite was on a routine trip to Duluth, Minn., from Detroit, and towing four schooner barges when it sprang a leak. “She gained on us an inch a minute,” he wrote, adding that “there was no logs” in “the way we came.”

Persons: Josh Gates, ”, Gates, Joshua B, Markee, “ Organizations: Channel, “, Historical Society Locations: Paradise, Mich, Lake Superior, Duluth, Minn, Detroit

☆ Bill Gates publishes blog post on the risks of AI, says employees will need 'retraining' and 'support' as workplace transforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Haley Tenore | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Bill Gates wrote a 3,000-word post on his blog, GatesNotes, discussing artificial intelligence. Gates believes that AI is a powerful tool, but society will have to learn to use it efficiently. The Microsoft cofounder predicted AI will impact the workplace, and some people will need retraining. The risks are real, but I am optimistic that they can be managed," Gates said on his blog, GatesNotes. "It is true that some workers will need support and retraining as we make this transition into an AI-powered workplace," Gates wrote.

Persons: Bill Gates, Gates, he's, He's, Cherie Shields, —, Checkr, they'd, aren't, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Microsoft, Goldman, Employers

☆ Bill Gates says AI risks are real but nothing we can’t handle
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Bill Gates sounds less worried than some other executives in Silicon Valley about the risks of artificial intelligence. In a blog post on Tuesday, the Microsoft co-founder outlined some of the biggest areas of concern with artificial intelligence, including the potential for spreading misinformation and displacing jobs. But he stressed that these risks are “manageable.”“This is not the first time a major innovation has introduced new threats that had to be controlled,” Gates wrote. In a blog post earlier this year, Gates wrote: “Could a machine decide that humans are a threat, conclude that its interests are different from ours, or simply stop caring about us? “It reminds me of the time when electronic calculators became widespread in the 1970s and 1980s,” Gates wrote.

Persons: Bill Gates, ” Gates, “, Kevin Scott, Gates, ”, it’s Organizations: CNN, Microsoft, International Atomic Energy Agency Locations: Silicon Valley

☆ Bill Gates, in First Visit to China Since 2019, Meets With Xi
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Chang Che | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Xi told Mr. Gates that he was “the first American friend I met in Beijing this year,” according to People’s Daily, the Communist Party newspaper. Mr. Xi also said he wanted to build stronger ties with Mr. Gates’s philanthropic organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to help with aid to developing countries. The Gates Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr. Gates’s trip to China, his first since 2019, overlaps with a visit by Antony J. Blinken, his first since becoming secretary of state. It was unclear if Mr. Blinken, who arrives Sunday, would meet with Mr. Xi.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Bill Gates, Xi, Gates, I, Melinda Gates, Antony J, Blinken Organizations: Communist Party, Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates Foundation, Mr Locations: American, Washington, Beijing, China, U.S

☆ Bill Gates in China: Microsoft co-founder to meet Xi Jinping
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Julie Zhu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, June 14 (Reuters) - Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) co-founder, is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday during his visit to China, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The meeting will mark Xi's first meeting with a foreign private entrepreneur in recent years. The last reported meeting between Xi and Gates was in 2015, when they met on the sidelines of the Boao forum in Hainan province. In early 2020, Xi wrote a letter to Gates thanking him, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for pledging assistance to China including $5 million for the country's fight against COVID-19. Several foreign CEOs have visited China since it reopened early this year but most have mainly met with government ministers.

Persons: Bill Gates, Xi Jinping, Gates, Melinda Gates, Xi, Premier Li Qiang, Tim Cook, Elon Musk, Ding Xuexiang, Antony Blinken, Blinken, Qin Gang, Qin, Julie Zhu, Greg Roumeliotis, Brenda Goh, Alex Richardson, Sumeet Chatterjee, Nick Macfie, William Maclean Organizations: Microsoft, Melinda Gates Foundation, Information Office, COVID, Premier, Reuters, U.S, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, China, Beijing, Hainan province, U.S, United States, Hong Kong, New York

☆ Travel chaos on holiday weekend as passport gates fail at UK airports, causing long delays for passengers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Passengers faced long delays at British airports Saturday after electronic passport gates failed. Many passports were being checked manually by UK Border Force officers until the problem was resolved. A representative for Heathrow tweeted: "We are aware of a nationwide issue impacting the eGates, which are operated by Border Force. A representative for Gatwick airport said some passengers may experience delays at immigration due to the nationwide issue with the e-gates. A Home Office representative told Insider: "We are aware of a nationwide border system issue affecting arrivals into the UK.

☆ Bill Gates says A.I. could kill Google Search and Amazon as we know them
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates reacts during a visit with Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the Imperial College University, in London, Britain, February 15, 2023. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates believes the future top company in artificial intelligence will likely have created a personal digital agent that can perform certain tasks for people. Gates said there is a fifty-fifty chance that this future AI winner will be either a startup or a tech giant. Until then, companies will continue embedding so-called generative AI technologies akin to OpenAI's popular ChatGPT into their own products. Watch: Bill Gates says OpenAI's GPT is the most important tech advance since the 1980's

☆ Jeffrey Epstein reportedly threatened Bill Gates with knowledge of the Microsoft billionaire's affair with a Russian bridge player
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Bill Gates had an affair with a Russian bridge player around 2010, The Wall Street Journal reports. The woman later met Jeffrey Epstein in 2013 and he paid for her to attend a coding camp, per WSJ. Epstein reportedly asked Gates to repay him for the camp in 2017, implying he would expose the affair. Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates had an affair around 2010, The Wall Street Journal reports, and knowledge of the relationship was used by Jeffrey Epstein in a seemingly threatening email to Gates in 2017. "Mr. Gates met with Epstein solely for philanthropic purposes," a spokeswoman for Gates told the Journal.

☆ Bill Gates: Here are ‘the 5 things I wish I was told at the graduation I never had’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Bill Gates never finished his undergraduate degree — the billionaire dropped out of Harvard University after three semesters to start Microsoft. Not much, personally, to be honest," Gates told students at Northern Arizona University's commencement ceremony on Saturday. If Gates had finished college, these are "the five things I wish I was told at the graduation I never had," he said. Gates did work at Microsoft for a long time: He was the company's CEO until 2000, and board director until 2014. 'Don't underestimate the power of friendship'One of Gates' biggest college regrets, he told Harvard students in 2018: Not being sociable enough.

☆ Billionaire investors Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger aren't sold on AI hype: 'Old-fashioned intelligence works pretty well'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger appeared skeptical of AI during an annual shareholder meeting. Billionaire investors Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger haven't quite bought into the artificial intelligence hype. "I am personally skeptical of some of the hype that is going into artificial intelligence," Munger said. Both Buffett and Munger have questioned in the past whether artificial intelligence will be beneficial to society. Earlier this year, Buffett's righthand man said AI won't be able to do "everything that we want," like cure cancer.

☆ Elon Musk, Bill Gates and other tech leaders call for pause in ‘out of control’ AI race
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The letter comes just two weeks after OpenAI announced GPT-4, an even more powerful version of the technology that underpins the viral AI chatbot tool, ChatGPT. The wave of attention around ChatGPT late last year helped renew an arms race among tech companies to develop and deploy similar AI tools in their products. Artificial intelligence experts have become increasingly concerned about AI tools’ potential for biased responses, the ability to spread misinformation and the impact on consumer privacy. Lian Jye Su, an analyst at ABI Research, said the letter shows legitimate concerns among tech leaders over the unregulated usage of AI technologies. But he called parts of the petition “ridiculous,” including the premise of asking for a hiatus in AI development beyond GPT-4.

☆ Bill Gates says AI is set to transform healthcare and lays out the 2 main ways it could change the field
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

He said that AI could help healthcare workers with productivity, especially in poorer countries. Gate's letter, titled "The Age of AI has Begun," outlines two main ways he thinks AI could change the healthcare and medical field in the next five to 10 years. Gates is a cofounder of Microsoft, the tech giant that's been working to incorporate new AI tools from OpenAI into its Bing search engine and Office software. AI could help healthcare workers with productivityGates said he expects to see a lot of innovation in AI that could help healthcare workers with efficiency and productivity. Gates said that the next generation of AI tools will be even more efficient, which will "dramatically accelerate the rate of medical breakthroughs."

☆ Bill Gates says OpenAI's GPT is the most important advance in technology since 1980
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft founder Bill Gates speaks during the Global Fund Seventh Replenishment Conference in New York on September 21, 2022. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says that OpenAI's GPT AI model is the most revolutionary advance in technology since he first saw a modern graphical desktop environment (GUI) in 1980. Now, Gates sees parallels with OpenAI's GPT models, which can write text that resembles human output and generate nearly usable computer code. "The whole experience was stunning," Gates wrote. Gates and Microsoft have close ties to OpenAI, which developed the GPT model.

☆ Bill Gates just published a 7-page letter about AI and his predictions for its future
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Bill Gates published a 7-page letter on the future of artificial intelligence. The Microsoft cofounder published a seven-page letter on Tuesday, titled "The Age of AI has Begun," outlining his views on the future of artificial intelligence. It's possible that AI could also aid in the treatment of patients who don't live nearby health facilities, Gates wrote. "Even once the technology is perfected, learning will still depend on great relationships between students and teachers," the letter reads. "To make the most of this remarkable new technology, we'll need to both guard against the risks and spread the benefits to as many people as possible," Gates wrote.

☆ Bill Gates buys Heineken stake, despite saying he's 'not a big beer drinker'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Microsoft founder Bill Gates reacts during a visit with Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the Imperial College University, in London, Britain, February 15, 2023. Justin Tallis//Pool via REUTERSAMSTERDAM, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Bill Gates has bought 3.76% stake in Dutch drinks giant Heineken Holding NV (HEIO.AS), although the billionaire founder of Microsoft has previously said he was "not a big beer drinker." Heineken Holding owns a controlling stake in brewer Heineken NV (HEIN.AS). A separate filing also dated Feb. 17 showed FEMSA sold all 18 million shares it held in Heineken Holding. Gates purchased 10.8 million shares, worth 883 million euros ($939.87 million) at current market prices, triggering a disclosure requirement under Dutch stock market rules.

☆ Bill Gates told an AI chatbot he was 'overly intense' and 'didn't believe in weekends' in Microsoft's early days
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates said he was "overly intense" and "didn't believe in weekends" early on in his career. He made the comments in an interview with an AI chatbot with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak. I didn't believe in weekends, I didn't believe in vacation. The Microsoft cofounder made the comments in an interview with questions posed by an AI chatbot along with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak. The AI chatbot has been put to a wide range of uses since its launch, including writing code, cover letters and passing university exams.

☆ What Trump allies have faced criminal charges?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Here is a look at some of the Trump aides and allies who have faced criminal prosecution. Weisselberg pleaded guilty in 2022 and served as a star witness in the Trump Organization's criminal trial on tax fraud charges. Two other close Trump associates, Mark Meadows and Daniel Scavino, did not face similar criminal charges despite a House vote recommending them. Trump pardoned Broidy. Roughly 570 have pleaded guilty and 78 have been found guilty at trial.

Persons: Steve Bannon, Shannon Stapleton, Donald Trump, Six, Prosecutors, Trump, STEVE BANNON Trump's, Bannon, Joe Biden's, swindling Trump, ROGER, Stone, ALLEN WEISSELBERG, Weisselberg, PETER NAVARRO, Navarro, Mark Meadows, Daniel Scavino, MICHAEL COHEN, Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal, Cohen, MICHAEL FLYNN, Flynn, PAUL MANAFORT, Manafort, RICK, Gates, ELLIOT BROIDY, Broidy, Stewart Rhodes, Andy Sullivan, Will Dunham, Scott Malone, Daniel Wallis Organizations: White House, REUTERS, Companies Trump Organization Inc, WASHINGTON, Six Trump, House, . House, Capitol, Trump, Trump White House, U.S, Army, Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency, FBI, Thomson Locations: New, New York City, U.S, New York, Mexico, Moscow, United States, Russian Ukrainian, Russia

☆ Hip-Hop, Still Fly at 50
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Guy Trebay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Everything is a flashback,” Syreeta Gates said last week. “That’s the way it always is with our culture. It was a dizzying convergence, musically and visually. Decades afterward, the rap scholar Tricia Rose would note in “Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America” how skeptical the mainstream initially was to music most thought was a fad. That is, until the indie producer Sylvia Robinson released the hit song “Rapper’s Delight” in 1979.

☆ Bill Gates says Elon Musk's ambition to colonize Mars is not a good use of money
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Bill Gates questioned whether Elon Musk's current priorities would make him a good philanthropist, taking issue with his fellow billionaire's ambition to send people to Mars. Gates responded saying he doesn't think Musk is one currently but that this may change in future. Asked by BBC journalist Amol Rajan if going to Mars was a good use of money, Gates said: "Not in my view." In April, Musk said he asked Gates if he was short-selling Tesla — in other words, betting that the price of the electric carmaker's stock would fall. In a Bloomberg interview also in February 2021, Gates said that he wished he had "been more on the long side" of Tesla when asked about Musk's claims.

☆ Bill Gates says no country ‘gets an A’ for its Covid pandemic response—including the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates says some of the world's governments have handled the spread of Covid-19 better than others, but the billionaire won't give any country a perfect mark. The Microsoft co-founder and health care philanthropist has both praised and criticized multiple world governments' responses to the pandemic since the coronavirus's initial spread in late 2019. Poor Covid responses inspired government spending on future pandemic preparedness in multiple countries, he observed. Gates also applauded Australia's pandemic response last year, noting that the country quickly closed its international borders in March 2020. The U.S. gave that money to companies in multiple countries, resulting in multiple effective Covid vaccines.

☆ Fact Check-Bill Gates did not claim he visited Epstein’s Caribbean island
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Allegations that Bill Gates visited late American financier Jeffrey Epstein’s Caribbean island, Little Saint James, have been debunked in the past. Reuters reporting about litigation regarding Epstein's island is viewable (here )When asked about Gates having visited the island or admitting he did so, a spokesperson for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told Reuters that neither claim is true. Reuters found no evidence of Gates claiming, “he doesn’t know why he visited” Little Saint James. Reuters found no public record of Bill Gates saying he “doesn’t know why” he visited Epstein’s island multiple times. A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation said he made no such claim and that he did not visit Epstein’s island.

☆ Bill Gates: We will overshoot 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming, nuclear can be 'super safe' and fake meat will eventually be 'very good'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The world will not be able to avoid overshooting the goal established in the 2015 Paris Climate Accord to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-Industrial levels, according to Bill Gates. The billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder answered questions from Reddit users on Wednesday and a handful of the questions revolved around climate change. A report out at the end of October from the United Nations Environment Program found "no credible pathway to 1.5° Celsius in place." Gates also said bedraggled climate mitigation efforts will "slow down the progress we make on improving the human condition." Despite Gates' dour outlook, he also maintains some amount of optimism: "I still believe we can avoid a terrible outcome," he said.

☆ Bill Gates says he'll sell what he owns to fund his philanthropic foundation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates said Wednesday that he'll sell what he owns as money goes toward the foundation he runs with ex-wife Melinda French Gates. When asked if it was "contradictory" for him to be a humanitarian while owning so much farmland, Gates replied, "Everything I own will be sold." In his response, Gates was referring to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the philanthropic foundation he established in 2000 with his then-wife, Melinda French Gates. Gates created the Giving Pledge in 2010 alongside his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett, Gates' close friend and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. The pledge asks the world's richest people to commit to give away most of their wealth to charitable causes in their lifetimes or in their wills.

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