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☆ I'm the first person to receive Neuralink's brain-chip implant. Here's how it's helped me reconnect with the world.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-26 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Noland Arbaugh, Neuralink's first human patient to receive its brain-chip implant. I wasn't scared going into the surgery to get Neuralink's implant inserted in January. I know it's a long day, but it's fun for me, so it doesn't really feel like work. I didn't know what I was doing for a few months and didn't feel like I was being very productive. AdvertisementSince getting Neuralink's implant inserted in January, the quality of my life has improved significantly.

Persons: Noland Arbaugh, It's, I've, that's Organizations: Service, Bluetooth Locations: Maryland

☆ The Ambanis are reportedly throwing another lavish pre-wedding party, this time on a cruise ship
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewThe Ambanis are continuing their glitzy pre-wedding celebrations with another set of festivities. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, and Ivanka Trump also turned up for the events. Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan at the March pre-wedding party. Representatives for the Ambanis at Reliance Industries did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Persons: —, Anant Ambani, India's, Mukesh Ambani, Radhika Merchant, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Rihanna, Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, Bill Gates, Ivanka Trump, Zuckerberg, Chan, Alexander McQueen, Gautam Adani Organizations: Service, Business, Meta, Microsoft, Fortune, Reliance Industries, Bloomberg Locations: Italy, France, Deccan Chronicle, Gujarat

☆ Inflection AI has a new game plan after Mustafa Suleyman defected to Microsoft
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Inflection AI unveiled a new strategy to focus on building empathetic chatbots for businesses. It comes after Mustafa Suleyman resigned as CEO and joined Microsoft with most of the team. The startup's new leadership team told VentureBeat that it's "well funded for 18 months." The startup laid out a rehashed strategy following its partial implosion about two months after CEO Mustafa Suleyman decamped to Microsoft along with most of its 70 staff. Inflection's executive team told VentureBeat that its new plan of action is focusing on business-centric "empathetic" chatbots to help stand out in the highly competitive AI sphere.

Persons: Mustafa Suleyman, VentureBeat, —, Mustafa Suleyman decamped Organizations: Microsoft, Service, Business

☆ Another OpenAI employee announced she quit over safety concerns hours before two exec resigned
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

OpenAI faces more turmoil as another employee announces she quit over safety concerns. It comes after the resignations of high-profile executives Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike, who ran its now-dissolved safety research team Superalignment. Krueger wrote, "I resigned a few hours before hearing the news about @ilyasut and @janleike, and I made my decision independently. I resigned a few hours before hearing the news about @ilyasut and @janleike, and I made my decision independently. Kokotajlo said he left after "losing confidence that it [OpenAI] would behave responsibly around the time of AGI."

Persons: Ilya Sutskever, Jan Leike, Gretchen Krueger, Krueger, — Gretchen Krueger, Leike, OpenAI, Daniel Kokotajlo, William Saunders, Kokotajlo, OpenAI didn't Organizations: Business

☆ OpenAI cofounder says artificial general intelligence is coming fast — and needs some 'reasonable limits'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-21 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewThe age of AGI is coming and could be just a few years away, according to OpenAI cofounder John Schulman. Speaking on a podcast with Dwarkesh Patel, Schulman predicted that artificial general intelligence could be achieved in "two or three years." A spokesperson for OpenAI told The Information that the remaining staffers were now part of its core research team. Schulman's comments come amid protest movements calling for a pause on training AI models. Groups such as Pause AI fear that if firms like OpenAI create superintelligent AI models, they could pose existential risks to humanity.

Persons: —, John Schulman, Dwarkesh Patel, Schulman, AGI, Elon Musk, OpenAI, Kayla Wood, Jan Leike, Ilya Sutskever Organizations: Service, Business, Tech, Washington Post

☆ Sundar Pichai says Google is 'moving fast' with AI — but explains why it might need to slow down at times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Google boss Sundar Pichai says the company is moving boldly but cautiously with its AI efforts. In an interview with a YouTuber, Pichai discussed the balance of fast innovation and responsibility. Google's AI misstep with Gemini and competitive pressure may be behind the need for such a balance. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . CEO Sundar Pichai said the company is trying to balance "moving fast" with being responsible, and that could mean it would need to slow down the launch of future AI tools.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Pichai, —, YouTuber Varun Organizations: Gemini, Service, Google, Business

☆ 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

☆ The Magnificent 7 companies are worth a combined $14 trillion — here's how much their CEOs make
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( Ana Altchek | Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The "Magnificent Seven" companies include Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. Here's who earns the most, how much they all made last year, and how it breaks down. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementThe "Magnificent Seven" companies — Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Tesla — have a combined value of nearly $14 trillion.

Persons: Tesla, trillions, Here's, —, Tim Cook's, Andy Jassy Organizations: Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Service, Big Tech, Business

☆ Neuralink's first patient said he 'cried a little bit' after his brain implant started malfunctioning
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Neuralink reported a malfunction in its patient's brain-chip implant weeks after insertion. Noland Arbaugh told Bloomberg he "cried a little bit" after he found out about the malfunction. AdvertisementThe first person to get a Neuralink brain implant said he "cried a little bit" after finding out there had been a malfunction with the device. Noland Arbaugh told Bloomberg he realized the implant had malfunctioned weeks after he had the device inserted in January. Neuralink used a blog post last week to disclose the implant had malfunctioned, and give a progress update.

Persons: Neuralink, Noland Arbaugh, —, I'd, Arbaugh Organizations: Bloomberg, Service, Business

☆ Neuralink knew years ago that wires from its brain chip could retract and cause it to malfunction, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Neuralink's brain-chip implant malfunctioned in its first human patient weeks after it was inserted. Reuters reported the company knew of the risks that wires could retract from the brain years before. Weeks after the procedure, some of the device's wires pulled away from his brain, the company said last week. A Reuters report, which cites five unnamed sources, said Neuralink knew the wires could retract from its device after it carried out tests on animals. Neuralink decided the device didn't need to be reconfigured as it believed the risk of the wires retracting was low, the report said.

Persons: —, Neuralink, Noland Arbaugh, Weeks Organizations: Reuters, Service, Business

☆ Jeff Bezos appears worried that Amazon is falling behind in the AI race
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Jeff Bezos emailed Amazon execs asking why more AI firms aren't using its cloud services, CNBC reported. Amazon is investing in AI tools and startups to remain competitive in the AI race. AdvertisementIt seems like Jeff Bezos is concerned about Amazon lagging behind rivals in the AI race. The person reportedly said Amazon is considered the "most vulnerable" Big Tech company in the AI arena. Aware of that perception, Bezos is "very involved" in its AI efforts and has been mapping out the competitive playing field, according to CNBC.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, — Organizations: Amazon, CNBC, OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Service, Big Tech

☆ Looks like Google tried to one-up OpenAI by teasing its new AI tools minutes before the GPT-4o reveal
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Google released a teaser for its AI tools shortly before OpenAI revealed GPT-4o. OpenAI scheduled its livestream the day before Google's I/O conference. The timing highlights the intense AI race between Big Tech firms launching rival tools. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementGoogle appeared to try to outplay OpenAI by dropping a teaser for its AI tools just minutes before the big reveal of GPT-4o.

Persons: OpenAI, Google's, —, OpenAI's Organizations: Google, Big Tech, Service, Business

☆ Army Officer Resigns in Protest of ‘Unqualified’ U.S. Support to Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( John Ismay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An Army officer assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency has resigned in protest over the United States’ support for Israel, which he said had “enabled and empowered” the killing of Palestinian civilians. The officer, Maj. Harrison Mann, announced his resignation and explained his reasons for leaving the service in a post on the social media site LinkedIn on Monday. According to his biography on the site, he has specialized in the Middle East and Africa for about half of his 13-year career and previously served at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis. “The policy that has never been far from my mind for the past six months is the nearly unqualified support for the government of Israel, which has enabled and empowered the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians,” Major Mann wrote in the post, which noted that he had previously emailed his comments to co-workers on April 16. “This unconditional support also encourages reckless escalation that risks wider war.”

Persons: Harrison Mann, ” Major Mann, ” Organizations: Army, Defense Intelligence Agency, Israel, U.S, Embassy Locations: United States, East, Africa, Tunis, “, Israel

☆ Elon Musk's Tesla dreams may hinge on his blossoming bromance with Argentina's libertarian president Javier Milei
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk seems to be courting Argentine President Javier Milei to secure lithium supplies. AdvertisementTesla CEO Elon Musk has been cozying up to Argentine president Javier Milei — and lithium may be one reason why. Milei told the TV show "La Noche De Mirtha" in December that Musk had called him and said he was "extremely interested" in lithium. Argentina's ambassador to the US, Gerardo Wethein, told Argentine media that the pair talked about Tesla's "investment opportunities" in lithium, the Financial Times reported. Musk met up with Milei again last week, shared a photo of them on X, and later told his followers: "I recommend investing in Argentina."

Persons: Elon Musk, Javier Milei, —, Milei, Musk, Tesla, Gerardo Wethein, Donald Trump, He's Organizations: Argentine, EV, Service, Business, United States Geological Survey, Reuters, Financial Times Locations: Argentina, Argentine, Texas, Tesla's, Austin

☆ Microsoft really wants you to start using its Edge web browser
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft is adding an AI feature to its Edge web browser in an apparent bid to win more users. Rival web browsers Chrome and Safari are far more popular than Edge, StatCounter data shows. Microsoft plans to launch an "AI theme generator" next month that will let users create their own browser themes by using a text prompter to create images. AdvertisementMicrosoft Edge launched in 2015 to rival web browsers Google Chrome and Apple's Safari. Chrome is the web browser for most internet users.

Persons: —, it's, Safari Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Apple, Service, Chrome, Edge, Worldwide Developers Conference, Business

☆ Meta is using your Instagram and Facebook photos to train its AI models
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Meta uses public Instagram and Facebook photos and text to train its AI text-to-image generator. Meta executive Chris Cox told Bloomberg's Tech Summit the company doesn't "train on private stuff." The chief product officer's comments come as Big Tech firms race to get data to train AI models. AdvertisementBig Tech firms are scrambling for AI training data and Meta seems to have one big advantage over its rivals: using Instagram and Facebook photos. "We don't train on private stuff, we don't train on stuff that people share with their friends, we do train on things that are public," he said.

Persons: Chris Cox, — Organizations: Bloomberg's Tech Summit, Big Tech, Service, Bloomberg's Tech, Business

☆ Neuralink's brain-chip implant malfunctioned and the company reportedly considered removing it from its human patient
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Some threads pulled away from Neuralink's first brain implant in a human, but it's now been fixed. Elon Musk's company considered removing the device from the patient, The Wall Street Journal reported. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementNeuralink's brain-chip implant is working — except that some of the device's threads pulled away from the first human patient's brain.

Persons: it's, Elon, Neuralink, — Organizations: Elon Musk's, Street Journal, Service, Business

☆ 2 OpenAI researchers working on safety and governance have quit
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewTwo OpenAI employees who worked on safety and governance recently resigned from the company behind ChatGPT. Daniel Kokotajlo left last month and William Saunders departed OpenAI in February. Kokotajlo, who worked on the governance team, is listed as an adversarial tester of GPT-4, which was launched in March last year. OpenAI also parted ways with researchers Leopold Aschenbrenner and Pavel Izmailov, according to another report by The Information last month. OpenAI, Kokotajlo, and Saunders did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Persons: —, Daniel Kokotajlo, William Saunders, Saunders, Kokotajlo, overton, Ilya Sutskever, Jan Leike, AGI, It's, Sam Altman, Diane Yoon, Chris Clark, Yoon, Clark, OpenAI, Leopold Aschenbrenner, Pavel Izmailov Organizations: Service, Business, Alignment Locations: OpenAI

☆ Microsoft made an AI model for spies that's not connected to the internet
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft has developed a secret AI model exclusively for US spy agencies, Bloomberg reported. It's part of a broader effort by intelligence agencies to use AI for more efficient data handling. AdvertisementMicrosoft created a secret AI model for US spy agencies that is not connected to the internet. It is yet to be tested and accredited by the intelligence agencies. Intelligence agencies have long wanted to use AI to handle data more efficiently.

Persons: —, William Chappell, Chappell, Dennis J, Gleeson, Jr, Sheetal Patel, CIA didn't Organizations: Microsoft, Bloomberg, Service, CIA, Transnational, Technology Mission Center, Intelligence, of National Intelligence, AIM Initiative, Business

☆ Oddity Tech says it's bucking the beauty slowdown Ulta warned about
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Gabrielle Fonrouge | In Gabrielle-Fonrouge | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

As Ulta Beauty says it expects a slowdown in retail's most resilient category, an upstart says it is bucking the trend. Excluding one-time items, Oddity reported earnings of 61 cents per share. Analysts had expected revenue of $186.5 million and earnings per share of 56 cents, according to LSEG. Oddity believes beauty and wellness products are best sold online, and that consumers will not need to visit beauty shops such as Ulta and Sephora if product selection can be improved. Last month, Ulta Beauty CEO Dave Kimbell warned that demand for beauty products was cooling, sending its stock down 15% that day and hitting shares of e.l.f.

Persons: Dave Kimbell, Estée Lauder, Coty, Kimbell, JPMorgan Chase, Lindsay Drucker Mann, Drucker Mann Organizations: LSEG, Nasdaq, JPMorgan, CNBC

☆ Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI was 'basically a bet,' says CTO Kevin Scott
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewMicrosoft's chief technology officer said partnering with OpenAI was "basically a bet" on Sam Altman's company. Kevin Scott gave insight into his decision-making that led to Microsoft's alliance with OpenAI in 2019 on an episode of Reid Hoffman's podcast "Possible" last week. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. It was sent just weeks before Microsoft announced its $1 billion investment in OpenAI and subsequent partnership. Microsoft didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, sent outside normal working hours.

Persons: —, OpenAI, Sam Altman's, Kevin Scott, Reid, Scott, who's, Bill Gates, Satya Nadella, OpenAI's, Turing, Phi Organizations: Service, OpenAI, Business, Microsoft, Department, Google, MAI Locations: OpenAI

☆ Amazon's warehouse robot army keeps getting bigger and bigger
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Amazon has more than doubled its warehouse robot fleet in the past three years. It's gone from having 350,000 robots in 2021 to 750,000 in 2023, company blog posts show. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementAmazon has ramped up its fleet of robots in recent years to boost its warehouse operations. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: It's, — Organizations: Service, Business

☆ Mark Zuckerberg is now California's richest billionaire after his fortune surged over the last year, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Mark Zuckerberg is California's richest billionaire, with a net worth of $177 billion, per Forbes. AdvertisementMark Zuckerberg is now the richest billionaire in California, with a net worth of $177 billion, a new Forbes report said. The report, which maps out the richest billionaire in each state for 2024, said the Meta CEO overtook Google cofounder Larry Page as the Golden State's richest person. AdvertisementZuckerberg's net worth placed him behind Texas' richest person, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who took the title in Florida. The 54 billionaires researched by Forbes for the report were together worth $1.6 trillion, $100 billion more than in 2023, the outlet said.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, —, Larry Page, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos Organizations: Forbes, Service, Meta, Golden, Amazon, Business Locations: California, Meta, Texas, Florida, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Tahoe, Kauai, Hawaii

☆ Apple CEO Tim Cook made $63 million last year — here's how that breaks down
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Apple CEO Tim Cook's base salary has been $3 million a year since 2016. His total compensation was $63.2 million in 2023, down from $99.4 million the previous year. AdvertisementApple chief Tim Cook has been paid an annual salary of just $3 million since 2016. However, the CEO of the second-most valuable US company also gets stock awards and a performance-based bonus, which boosts his overall earnings. His pay packet was made up of $46.9 million in stock awards and $10.7 million in non-equity incentive plan compensation.

Persons: Tim Cook's, —, Tim Cook, Cook, It's, Apple Organizations: Apple, Service, SEC, Forbes, Bloomberg, Developers Conference, Business Locations: China

☆ Virtual reality could revolutionize mental-health treatments, including ketamine therapy, for conditions like depression and anxiety
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Christine Macintyre | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The tech is helping mental-health providers treat conditions such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. In the face of this staggering prevalence, virtual reality offers transformative solutions in mental-health treatment and care. He uses FireflyVR's platform, The Sanctuary, a clinically designed VR experience that uses cognitive-behavioral therapy to reduce patients' anxiety before they undergo ketamine therapy. VR cue exposure, Siegfried said, helps reduce binge-eating habits by exposing people to triggering stimuli in a controlled environment. Both cue exposure and embodiment aim to address the complex psychological dynamics of eating disorders.

Persons: —, Shel Mann, Mann, Dr, Christopher Romig, Stella, It's, Romig, Nicole Siegfried, Siegfried Organizations: Service, Disease Control, VR, Veterans Affairs, Behavioral

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