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☆ All the signs Trump lost the debate
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-11 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

By Wednesday morning, there were abundant signs that, frankly, Trump lost his debate against Harris. Our newest ad just dropped pic.twitter.com/DfM044iZ8s — Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 11, 2024Despite the reputation he forged in GOP primary debates, Trump has struggled in general election faceoffs. Here are the signs that Trump added to his debate loss total. Heading into the debate, Trump held a narrow lead on PolyMarket, a crypto-based betting market that counts election forecaster Nate Silver as one of its advisors. Amid a back and forth with Harris over debates, Trump declared that he wanted three face-offs with her.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Trump, Harris, DfM044iZ8s — Kamala, faceoffs, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Clinton, Nate Silver, Vox, PredictIt, Rupert Murdoch, Brit Hume, prepped Harris, 7gnMmIVupt, Ms, goading Trump, David Muir, Linsey Davis, Jason Miller, Donald Trump Jr, Trump's, Kamala, Taylor Swift, Biden, Rocky, Creed Organizations: Service, Business, Democratic, Trump, White House, Futures Trading Commission, Trump Media & Technology Group, Truth, Traders, Murdoch Media, Fox News, ABC, York, Street, GOP, ABC News, Boxing, UFC, Fighter Locations: York, Philadelphia

☆ Why Slurs Are Back in Left-Leaning, Liberal Language
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Julia Pugachevsky | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

A few weeks ago, I started asking left-leaning people their thoughts on slurs being peppered into everyday conversations. An inclusive eraKayla Cash, a 31-year-old PR manager, grew up using words she now considers offensive. Some of the language felt ubiquitous; she remembers the 2004 release of "Let's Get It Started," the Grammy-winning Black Eyed Peas hit that was originally released as "Let's Get Retarded." It was billed as discussions between two "bohemian layabouts" who called out performative aspects of progressive politics — while using language more often associated with the right, such as that offensive term for someone with intellectual disabilities. Looser language and new rulesEveryone I talked to for this story had rules for which words they would and wouldn't say.

Persons: It's, I've, Kayla Cash, Cash, Obama, Ari Lightman, Lightman, Seth MacFarlane, Kevin Hart, Robbie Goodwin, would've, Donald Trump, Goodwin, Reagan, who've, Zach Beauchamp, Ezra Klein, Beauchamp, Joe Rogan, Elon Musk Organizations: University of Idaho, Rosa's Law, Twitter, Carnegie Mellon University, New York Times, Yorker, Vox, Democratic Locations: Vietnam, Brooklyn

☆ Opinion | How to Save Disney
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-09 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the feast-or-famine landscape of contemporary cinematic box office, Disney is gorging itself at the high table once again. There are the recent stumbles into culture-war controversy and a related impulse to blame the fans when self-consciously diverse content disappoints commercially. There’s the stagnant stock price, the big layoffs last year and the smaller ones this year. But really, the problems can be summed up in a single sentence: The old stuff still sells, but nobody likes the new stuff. But when it comes to new content and new storytelling, the Mouse is struggling to connect.

Persons: ”, Hugh Jackman Organizations: Walt Disney Company, ” Marvel, Pixar, Disney, Vox Media

☆ Catalan separatist Carles Puigdemont returns to Spain after seven years, risking arrest
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-08 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

BARCELONA, SPAIN - AUGUST 08: Former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont makes his first public appearance since he fled Spain in 2017, speaking at a public rally in Barcelona, Spain on August 08, 2024. Catalan police had the order to arrest him immediately, but Puigdemont managed to speak for several minutes outside of the Catalan parliament. (Photo by Adria Puig/Anadolu via Getty Images)Former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont returned to Spain after seven years of self-imposed exile, defying a pending arrest warrant and igniting a police manhunt. A Catalan Interior Ministry spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that the separatist politician has yet to be captured. Illa's platform won the largest share of the vote in the Catalan elections of May, dethroning Puigdemont's hardline separatist Junts per Catalunya party.

Persons: Carles Puigdemont, Puigdemont, Adria Puig, Salvador Illa, dethroning, Ignacio Garriga —, Pedro Sanchez, Sanchez, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Bill Organizations: Anadolu, Getty Images, CNBC, Interior Ministry, Reuters, Spanish, Government, Socialist Locations: BARCELONA, SPAIN, Spain, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spanish, Catalan, Catalonian, Catalunya

☆ Why Google should feel nervous about OpenAI's SearchGPT, according to a search engine expert
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewWith the recent launch of SearchGPT, OpenAI has positioned itself to compete with Google in the search engine market. The new tool allows users to search the web in real time and automatically summarize results from Microsoft's Bing. Chris Rodgers, the CEO at SEO agency CSP, has worked in the search engine industry for over 20 years. He told Business Insider that SearchGPT may not pose an immediate threat to Google Search. He also said Google should feel the heat because OpenAI has presented a better strategy than Google in its rollout of SearchGPT.

Persons: —, OpenAI, Microsoft's Bing, hasn't, Chris Rodgers, Rodgers, that's, Axel Springer, SearchGPT, it's Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Astra, Vox Media, News Corp Locations: ChatGPT

☆ How Group Black's $500 million promise to Black-owned media unraveled
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-24 | by ( Lucia Moses | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Montaque cofounded Group Black in 2021 with the goal of directing $500 million in advertising money to Black-owned media in its first 18 months. With the pledge, Group Black laid out a plan to steer money to Black media owners and acquire media companies. Bough, Group Black's chief strategy officer, was a former Mondelēz and PepsiCo marketer who presented the CNBC reality show "Cleveland Hustles." Various outlets reported that Group Black mounted bids for media companies including the Sports Illustrated publisher Arena Group, the Paramount-owned BET, Vice Media, and Vox Media. Seven former employees described Montaque as an energetic leader but said he was ultimately ineffective in executing Group Black's mission.

Persons: Travis Montaque, Weeks, Montaque, Bonin, Black, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Richelieu Dennis, Dennis, Ursula M, Burns, Randy Brooke, Ursula Burns, Seth Kaufman, Moët Hennessy, Gamble, Ziff Davis, offsites, Gamble —, Spokespeople, Derrick Johnson, Lionel Hahn, Todd Brown, It's, Christopher Kenna, I'm, Samantha Skey, Black's Travis Montaque, Arturo Holmes, Vivek Shah, Bough, Sheila Marmon, Media's Refinery29, Erika Goldring, Richelieu Dennis who's, Kirk McDonald, GroupM Organizations: Black, Cannes Lions, Business, Black's, SHE, Cola, Walmart, PepsiCo, CNBC, Xerox, Getty, Moët Hennessy North America, Procter, Gamble, NAACP, Urban Edge Network, Corporate America, Association of National Advertisers's Alliance, Inclusive, Multicultural, Diversity Media, Penske Media Corp, Zeta, Fox, Everyday Health, Sports, Arena Group, Paramount, BET, Vice Media, Vox Media, Galore Media, Mirror, Marmon, Media Locations: GroupM, America, Soho, Manhattan, Santa Monica, Cannes

☆ Twitter's not back. But it's not going anywhere, either. Ask Ezra Klein.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-22 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But Biden, like a lot of social media users, is a promiscuous poster: The same message went out on Threads and Instagram. Confirmed debate wasn't a… — Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) July 18, 2024Again: Klein has a column and a popular podcast at The New York Times, with all of the reach and clout that entails. I don't think it's good for the way I think most of the time. I don't think that's what Musk thought he was buying two years ago, and I don't feel great about using it myself. But I don't think it's going anywhere.

Persons: Musk, That's, Hasan Chowdhury, Joe Biden, Biden, Ezra Klein, podcaster, —, Senate Dems, Klein, I'd, I'm Organizations: Service, Business, The New York Times, Vox Media, Twitter, Dems, Senate, CNN Locations: United States, @ezraklein

☆ Biden's allies are pushing old stories about Trump's connections with Jeffrey Epstein
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-11 | by ( Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

On social media — and even in the halls of Congress — certain Biden supporters are using Donald Trump's associations with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein as an argument to disqualify him. Discourse about Trump and Epstein was reignited after documents from Epstein's first Florida investigation in 2006 were released last week. Other Biden boosters have suggested a coordinated media cover-up to boost Trump's chances or doom Biden's. Related storiesMedia outlets haven't reported on Trump's connection to the new Epstein files because there isn't one. What we know about Trump's relationship with EpsteinTrump has appeared in previous unsealed and uncovered documents connected to the Epstein case.

Persons: —, Joe Biden, Biden, Donald Trump's, Jeffrey Epstein, Epstein, Trump, Ted Lieu of, Lieu, Donald Trump, Ben Meiselas, Julie Brown, Epstein Trump, Ivana, Ivanka, Courtney Love, Alec Baldwin, Naomi Campbell, John Kerry, Michael Bloomberg, Henry Kissinger, Prince Andrew, Glenn, Eva Dubin, BI's Jacob Shamsian, massaged Trump, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Katie Johnson, Vox, Jerry Springer, didn't Organizations: Service, Trump, Business, Biden, Miami Herald, Media, Washington Post Locations: Epstein's, Florida, Ted Lieu of California, Palm Beach, Newark, Beach, Mar

☆ Paramount's new owner says he's building a tech company. Come again?
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-08 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But he is definitely leaning on the idea that he's building a media company that is also a tech company. That's partly because David Ellison isn't a tech mogul. But this reminds me a bit of the 2015 era when digital publishers like BuzzFeed and Vox Media told investors they weren't media companies but tech companies that made media. The bigger problem with the tech + media pitch isn't that tech and media aren't intertwined. AdvertisementThe real problem that Paramount — and just about every other big media company — has these days isn't that its tech isn't good enough.

Persons: —, David Ellison, Ellison, he's, David Ellison's, Larry Ellison —, We've, David Ellison isn't, Steve Jobs, Jobs, John Lasseter, it's, He's, Lasseter, That's, Rich Greenfield, It's Organizations: Service, Hollywood, Paramount, Media, Technology Enterprise, Business, Oracle, Apple, Pixar, Disney, Vox Media, Netflix, YouTube, Lightshed

☆ Media network Group Black faces a leadership in flux
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-06 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

All in all, Group Black said it planned to deploy $500 million in Black-owned media by the end of 2022. Some brands have provided updates on their commitments since, but gains by Black-owned media companies have been uneven overall. Group Black's idea was to help steer ad dollars to its member companies and use some of the ad dollars to buy stakes in media companies. It listed among its founding member companies Essence, which is part of Dennis' company, Sundial Media; podcast company Pod Digital Media; and lifestyle media company She Media. Various outlets also reported that Group Black sought to acquire stakes in media companies including Sports Illustrated publisher Arena Group and Vox Media.

Persons: —, Travis Montaque, Montaque, Montaque hasn't, Kerel Cooper, Dan Bisgeier, Delida Costin, Mike Owen, Ryan Robertson, Marchelle Wright, Ashley Banks, Cooper, Holler, Richelieu Dennis, Bonin, Black, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ursula Burns, Fortune, Seth Kaufman, Moët Hennessy, Dennis Organizations: Service, Business, Black, Xerox, Moët Hennessy North America ., Media, Pod Digital Media, Sports, Arena, Vox Media Locations: Black

☆ As Europe teeters further to the far right, the UK is doing the opposite
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-05 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Sunak, who conceded defeat on Friday morning UK time, will likely be replaced by Labour Party leader Keir Starmer. Labour's rise, largely telegraphed by pre-election polls, makes the UK a clear outlier in this year's political shifts in Western Europe. Still, the far-right faction there, Vox, struggled to gain a foothold, with only 9.6% of the vote, down from 12.4% in 2019. Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage on July 3, 2024.

Persons: —, it's, Rishi Sunak's, Keir Starmer, Starmer, Jeremy Corbyn, he's, Germany's Scholz, Alice Weidel, Tino Chrupalla, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's, Sean Gallup, Scholz, France's, Emmanuel Macron, Macron, FRANCOIS LO, Le, Giorgia, Massimo Di Vita, Archivio Massimo Di Vita, Spain's, Pedro Sanchez's, Vox, Geert Wilders, Nigel Farage's, Farage, Nigel Farage, Dan Kitwood, Richard Wike Organizations: Service, Conservative Party, Labour Party, Business, European Union, Parliamentary, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party, Marine, FRANCOIS LO PRESTI, Getty, Italy, June's, Democratic Party, Spain's People's Party, Party for Freedom, Nigel Farage's Reform, Reform, Pew Research Center Locations: Western Europe, Germany, Berlin, France, AFP, Italy, Europe, Netherlands, Clacton

Lauren read several articles about how Democrats reacted to Biden’s performance. What stood out most to David Carlson, the treasurer of the Georgia Young Republicans, was the mainstream media’s reaction to Mr. Biden’s performance. Jonathon saw memes on Facebook about Biden’s performance and Jill Biden’s response after the debate. Jonathon saw memes on Facebook about Biden’s performance and Jill Biden’s response after the debate. “I already had my mind set on Trump” before the debate, Mr. Ballard said.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Aaron Hernandez, California Lauren Waits, Georgia Arina, Independent Indiana Jonathon Ballard, Independent Wisconsin Jim Hauersberger, Independent Iowa David Carlson, Lauren Waits, Lauren, Vox, David Carlson, ”, “ It’s, David, Trump, “, ” “, ” Aaron, Jon Stewart, Aaron, Arina Trotter, Mr, ” Arina, Arina, Jim Hauersperger, Hauersperger, “ I’m, Jim, Jonathon Ballard, Ballard, ” Mr, Jonathon, Jill Biden’s, Biden’s Organizations: Media, Trump, Georgia, Georgia Arina Trotter, Independent Indiana, Independent Wisconsin, Independent Iowa, Republican Georgia, Democratic Party of Georgia, New Yorker, Georgia Young Republicans, Despair, Democratic, Mr, U.S . Capitol, Democratic Party, Republican Party, ABC News, CBS, Facebook, Republican Locations: Atlanta, California, Bloomington, Ind, Unionville , Iowa, Green Bay, Wis, Alabama

☆ How the ‘song of the summer’ became a cultural phenomenon
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Harmeet Kaur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

And in an age where social media and streaming platforms have fragmented the cultural landscape, does the song of the summer even exist anymore? “It’s not like people were walking around in 1925 and saying, ‘You think that’s the summer song this year? New York Magazine’s 1995 Summer Fun issue devoted an article to examining the summer song as a unifying force — per the magazine, a summer song should be 1) released in the summer, 2) uncomplicated and 3) unforgettable. MTV’s Video Music Awards introduced a song of summer category in 2013, with One Direction’s “Best Song Ever” nabbing the inaugural award. Even as the song of the summer has become increasingly debatable, the idea that a single song could encapsulate a given summer continues to have a hold over our culture.

Persons: David Hajdu, “, ”, Hajdu, Phil Edwards, George Gershwin's, George Gershwin’s, Harry James ’, “ It’s, that’s, ’ ” Hajdu, Young, ’, ” Hajdu, Michael Ochs, Martha, Lovin, Sly, Stone, Robert Thompson, Ann Powers, Ricky Martin's, Frank Micelotta, ” Thompson, Thompson, gatekeepers, Vulture, Rolling Stone, It’s, Jason Lipshutz, Morgan, SZA, Armando L, Sanchez, Morgan Wallen’s “, Lipshutz, Miley Cyrus, Kylie Minogue, — Organizations: CNN, Day, Labor, Vox, Washington Post, Billboard, Beach Boys, Michael Ochs Archives, Vandellas, . Radio, Bleier Center for Television, Culture, Syracuse University . New, Bills, Backstreet Boys, Nielsen, American, Rolling, Social, Chicago Tribune, Tribune, Service Locations: America, Washington, Syracuse University . New York, “

☆ Singapore races to clean oil spill as luxury beach resort coated in slick
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-16 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —An oil spill affecting Singapore has spread beyond a luxury beach resort to a marine reserve and other parts of the island as the authorities intensify cleanup efforts. The oil spilled into the city-state’s waters after a Netherlands-flagged dredger, Vox Maxima, hit Singapore-flagged bunker vessel, Marine Honor, on Friday afternoon, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. The oil spill has spread from the busy Pasir Panjang Terminal cargo port, less than 10 kilometers (six miles) from Sentosa, the country’s popular resort island home to luxury hotels, golf courses and Universal Studios Singapore. Oil covers Sentosa's Tanjong Beach in Singapore on June 16, 2024. Measuring about 13 kilometers long (8 miles) long, 19 kilometers (11.8 miles) wide and dotted with several small islands, it is one of the world’s busiest commercial waterways where around 1,000 ships pass through every day.

Persons: Vox Maxima, Hari Raya Haji, John’s, Lazarus, Kusu, Roslan Rahman Organizations: CNN, Maritime, Port Authority of, Universal Studios Singapore, National Parks Board, Friends, Marine, Getty Images Authorities, Marine Stewards Locations: Singapore, Netherlands, Port Authority of Singapore, Pasir Panjang, Sentosa, Hari, Tanjong, Palawan, Siloso, St, Beach, AFP, China

☆ Grab Them. Then Stump Them.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Mike Isaac | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

What’s a five-letter word for an activity that media and technology companies are increasingly relying on to gain subscribers and keep them coming back? GAMESApple released a series of word-focused puzzles in its subscription news service last fall. LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft, debuted a set of word games this spring. For media companies, games are a way to attract new customers as their sites face declining traffic from Google, X and Meta, which have backed away from emphasizing news. “They want to recreate that same satisfying experience for people that they might have had over years of doing a crossword in the newspaper.”

Persons: What’s, ”, John Temple Organizations: Apple, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Morning, The Washington Post, Vox Media, Boston Globe, Google

☆ Baby naming is big business, with consultants charging up to $10,000 to find the perfect name
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-07 | by ( Lindsay Dodgson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Now, there are baby naming consultants who rifle through popularity lists, analyze trends, and recommend the right fit for families. There are companies that specialize in baby names, too. AdvertisementCoffield said she knew she could make a living from baby names when she started talking about it on TikTok. She had previously focused on educating women about how to be empowered while giving birth and casually spoke about baby names a few times. The biggest way to build success in the baby naming business is to make sure people find you credible, Coffield said.

Persons: —, influencer Francesca Farago, @francescafarago, ames, earbooks,, ike, ersonal, ake, ince, ure Organizations: Service, Business, Netflix, ust

☆ He quit OpenAI, branding it reckless. He hopes outside pressure can now force change.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewA former OpenAI employee who quit in February spoke out about what led him to quit, and later sign a letter calling for change at AI companies. William Saunders told Business Insider that concerns he raised while working at OpenAI were "not adequately addressed." This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Advertisement'Egregiously insufficient'According to Aschenbrenner, OpenAI told employees that he was fired over sharing a document containing safety ideas with external researchers. AdvertisementOpenAI didn't respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Persons: —, William Saunders, Saunders, they're, Leopold Aschenbrenner, OpenAI's, podcaster Dwarkesh Patel, Aschenbrenner, OpenAI, he'd, Sam Altman, Altman Organizations: Service, Business Locations: OpenAI

☆ Sam Altman's OpenAI is paying publishers big money for content. That could be a lifeline — or blow up in their faces.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

You've heard this one before: A big tech company is offering a lifeline to distressed media companies. That's the argument against a slew of deals publishers have been making with Sam Altman's OpenAI over the past few months. But the OpenAI deals, the publishers emphasize, are straightforward licensing deals for stuff they're already making. AdvertisementWhich means — they say — at the end of these deals, publishers won't have to regret investing in another defunct Big Tech project. But the thing I'm most worried about as someone who makes words for a living isn't a replay of the old Facebook/Apple/Google deals publishers now regret.

Persons: You've, It's, Sam Altman's OpenAI, Axel Springer, Rupert, Barry Diller's Dotdash Meredith, Laurene Powell, haven't, OpenAI, it's, Jessica Lessin, Lucy, Charlie Brown, —, Let's, Bob Iger, ChatGPT, that's Organizations: Service, Vox Media, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, Laurene Powell Jobs, Atlantic Media, Apple, Google, Facebook, The New York Times, Big Tech, New York Times, Microsoft, Netflix, ABC, Disney

☆ Hearst has big plans for its puzzles and games as it chases The New York Times' Wordle success
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewHearst is doubling down on puzzles as it tries to replicate The New York Times' success with Wordle and other games. Six months ago, Hearst acquired the games platform Puzzmo, a collection of daily puzzles started by game designer Zach Gage and engineer Orta Therox. Pile-Up Poker will be Puzzmo's eighth game, and Andrew Daines, Hearst Newspapers' VP of games and general manager of Puzzmo, said Hearst is just getting started. HearstPuzzmo is taking direct aim at the Times, saying in a manifesto that "newspaper game players deserve better." Right now, all Puzzmo subscribers get the same games, but up next, Hearst plans to start creating bespoke games for partner publishers.

Persons: —, Hearst, , Zach Gage, Orta Therox, Vox, Andrew Daines, Puzzmo, Hearst Puzzmo, Lisa Hanawalt, Daines, Elle Organizations: Service, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Business, Hearst Newspapers, Times, Poker, Hearst Locations: There's, Texas

☆ Spanish parliament approves controversial amnesty law for Catalan separatists
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Al Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The Spanish parliament has approved a controversial amnesty law Thursday that could benefit hundreds of people facing prosecution for their roles in the failed independence bid in Catalonia, in and around Barcelona, in 2017. The vote for the bill, introduced last year by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s ruling Socialist Party, was 177 to 172, the speaker of Spain’s lower house of parliament announced. Crucial support came from two Catalan separatist parties, Junts (Together) and Esquerra Republicana (Republican Left), each with seven seats in Spanish parliament. Spain’s main opposition conservative Popular Party and the far-right Vox party voted against the measure. Just before the vote, the Madrid regional government president Isabel Diaz Ayuso, of the Popular Party, vowed to appeal against the new law to Spain’s Constitutional Court, the highest in the land.

Persons: Pedro Sánchez’s, Esquerra Republicana, Isabel Diaz Ayuso Organizations: CNN, Socialist Party, Republican Left, Popular Party, Vox, Constitutional Locations: Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain’s, Madrid

☆ Former OpenAI board member explains why CEO Sam Altman was fired
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Former OpenAI board member Helen Toner, who helped oust CEO Sam Altman in November, broke her silence this week when she spoke on a podcast about events inside the company leading up to Altman's firing. Toner also said Altman did not tell the board he owned the OpenAI startup fund. Within a week, Altman was back and board members Toner and Tasha McCauley, who had voted to oust Altman, were out. In March, OpenAI announced its new board, which includes Altman, and the conclusion of an internal investigation by law firm WilmerHale into the events leading up to Altman's ouster. "The review concluded there was a significant breakdown of trust between the prior board and Sam and Greg," OpenAI board chair Bret Taylor said at the time, referring to president and co-founder Greg Brockman.

Persons: Helen Toner, CSET, Vox, Sam Altman, OpenAI, Toner, Altman, Sam, Ilya Sutskever, Jan Leike, Anthropic, OpenAI's, Sutskever, Tasha McCauley, Adam D'Angelo, WilmerHale, Greg, Bret Taylor, Greg Brockman, Taylor Organizations: The Ritz, Carlton, Twitter, OpenAI, Microsoft, Street Locations: Laguna Niguel, Dana Point , California

☆ Silicon Valley doesn't seem to be buying Sam Altman's NDA pleas
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-27 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewSilicon Valley types are skeptical about whether Sam Altman knew OpenAI had non-disparagement clauses in its exit agreements. The claims against OpenAI didn't go down well in the tech community, and some were unconvinced that Altman was being entirely honest. AdvertisementVox published a document showing the OpenAI chief signed incorporation documents for the holding company that handles OpenAI's equity. Meta researcher Soumith Chintala praised the follow-up Vox report, saying it brought "receipts that it wasn't just some standard exit paperwork from OpenAI."

Persons: —, Sam Altman, OpenAI, Vox, X, i've, OpenAI didn't, Altman, Naveen Rao, didn't, Neel Nanda, Nils Reimers, Soumith Chintala, Jacob Hilton, wouldn't, Hilton Organizations: Service, Tech, Business, Google, OpenAI Locations: OpenAI, Cohere

☆ 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

☆ Despite recent apologies and reassurances, documents leaked to Vox show OpenAI pressured departing employees over equity
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Sarah Gray | Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Vox story on Saturday said the company could take back vested equity if departing employees did not sign a non-disparagement agreement. "For a company to threaten to claw back already-vested equity is egregious and unusual," California employment law attorney Chambord Benton-Hayes told Vox. AdvertisementOn Saturday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on X, "Vested equity is vested equity, full stop." We have not and never will take away vested equity, even when people didn't sign the departure documents. Not signing "could impact your equity," OpenAI told one of them, per Vox.

Persons: —, Chambord Benton, Hayes, Vox, Sam Altman, Altman, Kelsey Piper's, OpenAI execs, Jason Kwon, Kwon, OpenAI, i've, Scarlett Johansson Organizations: Service, Equity, Business, Vox Locations: California, Vox

☆ 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

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