Diverging views on oil’s outlook has prompted debate ahead of an OPEC+ meeting in the final weekend of November. China and the the US agreed to step up joint action to tackle climate change in the lead up to a key United Nations meeting. Copper trades are signaling a shaky 2024, while cocoa is…
It wasn’t a great week for Binance’s crime divisions. Binance’s senior counter-terrorism official Jennifer Hicks left the company this week, according to an update on her LinkedIn. Hicks’ departure comes just two months after she was tapped to lead the crypto firm’s first-ever counter-terrorism…
Nobody likes being accused of theft. That includes people who are actually thieves, but their feelings aren't all that important since their actually stealing, The problem — and it's a big one — is that many of the ways retailers fight theft make honest customers feel like criminals. That starts…
Fidelity and BlackRock have spearheaded a groundbreaking move in the cryptocurrency sphere by filing for spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETF) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Let’s find out more. Bitcoin The issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, Tether, plans to make…
Inflation has slowed in earnest over the past year without a recession, coming down to 3.2% in October from a peak of more than 9% in the summer of 2022. Now the labor market seems to be cooling gently. That’s fueling hope that the Federal Reserve will be able to bring price increases to heel…
Kelly Fremon Craig, the writer, director and producer of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, opened up about what inspired her to reach out to Judy Blume to adapt the beloved coming-of-age novel into a film. During Deadline’s Contenders Film Los Angeles event Saturday, Craig said that after The…
Sam Altman always insisted that he wasn’t the most important person at OpenAI despite being its CEO. As he traveled the world this year meeting world leaders—the world’s unofficial ambassador of AI—Altman would soft-pedal his role, even as he stole glances at his phone to keep up with what was…
The guy who called 911 to report finding “Extreme Weight Loss” star Brandi Mallory in her car, told dispatchers he was keeping his distance … ’cause he doesn’t mess with dead folks.
TMZ obtained audio of the 911 call and you hear the dispatcher ask the caller if he’s with Brandi … prompting him to quickly reply, “Nooo, she’s in her car. I don’t do dead people.”
The audio also includes the caller, who owns a nearby deli, describing Brandi as being motionless and unresponsive in her car, which was in the parking lot of a strip mall where he runs his biz.
TMZ broke the story … cops say Brandi was last seen alive Nov. 8 when she parked her car, went into a Chipotle to grab food, and then returned to her car and never drove off or exited the vehicle.
The deli owner told cops he realized something was off after noticing Brandi’s car sitting in the parking lot for hours on end … and that’s when he checked on her and decided to dial 911.
Authorities have not determined Brandi’s cause of deathyet. However, we should note there’s no evidence her Chipotle meal had anything to do with it, and cops have said there’s no sign of foul play.
Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, arrives for a bipartisan Artificial Intelligence (AI) Insight Forum for all U.S. senators hosted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., September 13, 2023.
Leah Millis | Reuters
OpenAI’s unusual company structure weakened Sam Altman’s position as CEO and left him open to surprise on Friday when he was quickly ousted from the company.
It’s rare to see founders forced out of a firm they helped co-found. At Uber, for example, founder Travis Kalanick was forced out only after a series of reports on privacy issues and allegations of discrimination and sexual harassment at the ride-sharing company.
But Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman, who also left OpenAI Friday, didn’t have the power that Kalanick had.
“I have no equity in OpenAI,” Altman said in a May Senate hearing on A.I. Senator John Kennedy’s reaction offered some foreshadowing.
“You need a lawyer or an agent,” Kennedy said in a now-prescient joke.
The structure of the company helps explain how he was left in a vulnerable position that, as he said on Saturday, left him feeling “a little screwed.”
The easiest way to think of OpenAI’s structure is to picture a waterfall. The board of directors sits at the top. OpenAI Global, the capped-profit company in which Microsoft invested billions and of which Sam Altman had become the global face, sits at the bottom. There’s some stuff in the middle.
So let’s start at the very top of the waterfall. OpenAI’s board of directors – the ultimate decision body and the group responsible for pushing Altman out – controls OpenAI’s 501(c)(3) charity, OpenAI Inc. That charity is the nonprofit of which you may be aware. It was established to “ensure that safe artificial general intelligence is developed and benefits all of humanity.”
The company’s website says the nonprofit’s charter takes “precedence over any obligation to generate a profit.” In other words, the nonprofit is the priority, while the capped-profit Open AI Global subsidiary is not.
There’s a holding company and another LLC called OpenAI GP, which both give the board ownership or control over OpenAI Global. Again, that’s the company Microsoft invested in. It’s the one you hear about in the news when Altman talks about ChatGPT developments and whatnot. What’s important here is that OpenAI Global had no control. It was the one controlled or owned by all of the other entities in various ways.
So now you’re probably wondering — why have a for-profit company at the bottom of a corporate structure if everything’s just going to be run by a nonprofit? There’s a reason for that, too.
OpenAI added its capped profit OpenAI Global subsidiary in 2019. The shift was prompted by several things, including a desire to attract top employees and investors with “startup-like equity.”
Remember, if your ultimate goal is to ensure the safe use of AI, you’re going to want to bring on some really smart people. And that’s tough when every big company on the market is willing to pay them top dollar to work. So if you’re OpenAI, you need incentives.
Part of that shift to a for-profit model meant reassessing how OpenAI rewarded those employees and investors who gambled on the company. The company settled on a capped-profit approach. It limited the “multiple” that investors could make by sending cash OpenAI’s way.
At the time, the profit cap was set at 100x of a first-round backer’s investment. In plain language, if investors put in $1, even if OpenAI was making billions of dollars in profit, that investor would be limited to $100 in total direct profit. It would still be a sizeable return, but not unlimited.
But remember, the core mission of the nonprofit is to control the development of artificial general intelligence. And all investors and employees are subject to that mission above anything else, including the for-profit company.
OK, so we have a nonprofit with a business that makes profits in order to attract top talent. How does Altman fit in here and how’d he get ousted?
Altman had a board seat and was the best-known OpenAI personality. Aside from a small investment through a YCombinator fund (Altman was formerly its president), he doesn’t have any equity in the company. And that meant he didn’t have much control if anything turned against him.
He even joked about it Friday evening: “If I start going off, the OpenAI board should go after me for the full value of my shares.”
In fact, it reportedly worried some investors that Altman didn’t have ownership in the company he helped co-found, despite Altman’s public pronouncements that he was committed to OpenAI because he loved the work.
Most founders at later-stage companies take advantage of a dual-class share structure. Two tiers of shares are created — a set of shares for venture investors and the general public, if the company makes it to an IPO, and a more powerful set of shares reserved for founders or, in some cases, major investors.
CEOs and founders use dual-class share structures to protect themselves from losing control of their company. The rights assigned to these shareholders vary, but they often include outsize voting power, guaranteed board seats, or other governance provisions that make it hard for a board to topple them even if a company goes public. Some companies, like Google, even have three classes of shares, for its founders, employees, and investors.
Altman didn’t have those protections. Brockman, the former OpenAI president, said that Altman found out he was “being fired” in a virtual meeting Friday noon. Altman’s only heads up, Brockman said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, was a text from OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever a day before.
Investors like to back visionary founders. Some, like Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, have centered their investment theses around the idea. Not having equity in the company could have been perceived as reducing Altman’s “skin in the game,” so to speak. But it also meant that Altman, lacking those protections, was open to a boardroom coup.
At Uber, five major investors demanded Kalanick’s departure immediately, including one of the company’s largest shareholders Benchmark, after months of negative reports on workplace culture and other controversies. OpenAI, by contrast, hasn’t seen a similar storyline emerge. Altman is a divisive figure, and many critics have worried about the impact OpenAI’s ultimate goal — artificial general intelligence, or AGI — would have for humanity.
OpenAI’s small board lacks the experience that would be expected from a company of its size and importance. None of its largest backers, not even Microsoft, have board seats. Until Altman and Brockman’s departure, it was composed of three outside directors and three OpenAI executives.
Brockman wasn’t involved in Altman’s firing, meaning that every outside director and Sutskever would have had to all vote to fire Altman. With no allies on the six-person board, it was a mathematical impossibility that Altman could win.
It isn’t clear what comes next for Altman or OpenAI. Litigation is possible, given the apparently swift nature of his departure. Some of Silicon Valley’s most influential law firms have represented OpenAI or its investors in various deals, and any courthouse proceedings will likely be closely watched.
BEIJING — Chinese brands are taking the lead in the country's rapid shift to new energy vehicles, putting Volkswagen on track for its smallest year of China sales since 2012, according to CNBC analysis of public data for the first three quarters of the year. The German auto giant isn't alone in…
Bill Maher has an interesting take on us Americans — we have way too many opinions on stuff that doesn’t matter, and maybe we should all shut the f*** up.
The ‘Real Time’ host made people think Friday night — think back just a few decades when we could consume news without making every story a battle cry about something we know little or nothing about.
Bill’s got a point … take Kylie Jenner, who posted she stands with the people of Israel and then almost immediately took that post down. As Bill says, that’s kinda the opposite of standing with.
4/3/23
Get this — 59% of us buy or boycott products based on the company’s political or social views … views that have nothing to do with the product itself. Just ask Anheuser-Busch or Target.
Bill says there’s virtue in having NO opinion because the more we draw lines in the sand, the more divided we become. As BM grouses, Thanksgiving has become a time when family and friends can gather together and fight about Donald Trump.
So, as Bill says, stop the online circle jerk and muzzle it once in a while.
Learn More Even though Scarlett Johanssen was featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe prequel movie "Black Widow" in 2021, fans are quite well aware that in the MCU timeline, her character, Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, died in the 2019 blockbuster "Avengers: Endgame." Of course, there are…
Over the past 40 years, 401(k)s have supplanted pensions. Now some asset managers are trying to make these retirement savings plans act more like pensions.
Dow Jones futures will open Sunday evening, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. Nvidia (NVDA) earnings loom large for the stock market rally and a slew of artificial intelligence plays. OpenAI's ouster of Sam Altman poses further questions for Microsoft and other AI stocks. The stock…
The new Speaker of the House dropped a huge batch of videos recorded inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 — and some conspiracy theorists will, no doubt, say they prove confirmation bias.
Speaker Mike Johnson just released a massive cache of surveillance footage from inside the Capitol that was shot on that fateful day — and you can imagine, it shows varying moments of activity as demonstrators broke in and stormed the premises.
1/6/21
Yes, there are instances when rioters are casually strolling through the grounds once they get inside … and in some cases, they’re actually walking right past police officers and other security personnel — which, obviously, isn’t a great look for law enforcement.
You can even see some elected officials shuffling through the halls … and they’re not necessarily sprinting as they’re being escorted by armed guards. Par for the course — a ton of conservative personalities are latching on to this as evidence Jan. 6 wasn’t actually an insurrection … but rather, a peaceful protest that’s been blown out of proportion.
1/6/21
Storyful
While those conservatives might think their point is made in this video dump — fact is, there’s even more video — which we’ve all seen — depicting the utter chaos and violence that actually unfolded.
There are countless videos of rioters squaring up and fighting cops outside — with batons being swung, and mace being sprayed. Also not in dispute, Capitol Police officers lost their lives in the line of duty that day … and one protester, Ashli Babbit, was shot and killed inside. So, this wasn’t some kumbaya get-together.
When I ran for Speaker, I promised to make accessible to the American people the 44,000 hours of video from Capitol Hill security taken on January 6, 2021. Truth and transparency are critical. Today, we will begin immediately posting video on a public website and move as quickly…
It’s interesting that Rep. Johnson — who’s known to be very Donald Trump-friendly — was the one who ended up releasing these. Previous Speaker Kevin McCarthy had a lot of pressure on him to do the same before he was ousted, but ultimately never did.
Johnson says he decided to release the footage to let the American people decide for themselves. Something tells us folks are already in their corners on this issue though … and no one’s crossing over.
News flash … lab-grown diamonds are REAL diamonds and there’s really no difference between man-made rocks and their natural counterparts … according to a famous jeweler.
Jean Dousset, a descendant of Cartier founder Louis Francois Cartier, joined us on “TMZ Live” Friday and schooled us on lab-grown diamonds … explaining why they are indeed a diamond in every sense of the way.
JD says even the most seasoned gemologists cannot tell the difference between lab-grown and natural diamonds … and they’re both graded on the same scales under the same rules and principles.
It’s pretty interesting to consider … seeing as there’s controversy surrounding engagement rings these days. Based on what Jean’s telling us here, it sounds like a man would be able to safely pass off a lab-grown diamond engagement ring as a natural one and the woman would never know.
Of course, Jean says most couples are shopping together for rings nowadays and he’s not advocating for people to get engaged on a lie … but the window of opportunity is definitely there.
Jean’s got his own jewelry store in West Hollywood and this year he started selling only lab-grown diamonds. He’s previously designed engagement rings for Paris Hilton, Eva Longoria and Amy Adams and says couples can get more bang for their buck with lab-grown diamonds.
It’s an educational conversation … and Jean points out the ethical concerns regarding natural diamonds and tells us why the fancy tech is putting the natural diamond industry on alert.
Sam Altman, the now former CEO of OpenAI, has departed his role and is leaving its board, according to a company post on Friday. But questions about his role at other entities like Worldcoin, the crypto project he co-founded, remain up in the air as its token falls on the news. Worldcoin’s token,…
Lukas Gage and Chris AppletonGetty Images; WireImage
Fans were shocked by Lukas Gage and Chris Appleton’s seemingly abrupt split, but an insider tells Us that there’s more to the story.
“Lukas cheated on Chris and Chris found out over the weekend,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly. “That’s the reason [Chris] filed.”
The insider adds, “They were never in an open relationship.”
The estranged couple were married for six months before Us confirmed that Appleton, 40, filed for divorce from Gage, 28, on Monday, November 13. Appleton cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split, according to court documents obtained by Us.
The duo’s date of separation was listed as November 10, one day after Appleton and Gage’s wedding was featured on an episode of Hulu’s The Kardashians. The insider notes that their breakup had “nothing to do” with the show.
Lukas Gage and Chris Appleton‘s romance made headlines months before they revealed they were an item. The White Lotus star and Appleton first sparked dating speculation in February 2023 when they shared vacation pics together at the St. Regis Punta Mita Resort in Mexico. While neither Gage nor the hair guru addressed their relationship status at the […]
Fans watched Kim Kardashian officiate Appleton and Gage’s wedding during the November 9 episode of The Kardashians. Before the twosome exchanged vows, the Skims founder, 43, offered Appleton sage advice about marriage.
“Wait, you have to get a prenup,” she told the hairstylist before quoting the song “Gold Digger” by her ex-husband Kanye West. “We want prenup, we want prenup.”
Lukas Gage and Chris AppletonJared Siskin/Getty Images for Vogue
As Appleton did Kardashian’s hair, the reality star FaceTimed Gage to share her thoughts.
“Can I just give you one tip from a lawyer? Prenup,” she told Gage. “Just super general, I think I can maybe even write it for you guys.”
Us confirmed the former couple had a postnuptial agreement, which was signed on May 3.
Appleton and Gage first sparked romance rumors earlier this year. The pair confirmed their relationship in March, sharing their love for each other in respective interviews.
“I feel very happy, very lucky and very much in love. He’s a good-looking man,” Gage said on the Today show at the time. “There’s something about being in London. I think I got a taste of the Brits.”
The pair got married at Las Vegas’ Little White Chapel in April. “We did it 💍,” Appleton wrote via Instagram alongside photos from the event. Appleton and Gage wore matching black fur coats during the wedding, while Kardashian, as their officiant, opted to wear a black dress.
“This is not where they wanted this to end up,” the insider shared earlier this week. “It will take time for both to get to a place where they can move past this and get on with their lives.”
[PRESS RELEASE – Tulum, Mexico, November 17th, 2023] CKB, the blockchain of the Nervos Network, is set to mark a significant milestone with its first halving on November 19th. This event will cut CKB’s hard-capped base issuance rate in half, bringing real inflation down from 7.92% to 3.77%, among…