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- 🤖 OpenAI board goes INSANE
🤖 OpenAI board goes INSANE
PLUS: Amazon's major new AI learning initiative
Rowan Cheung
November 21, 2023
Welcome, AI enthusiasts.
The OpenAI drama is far from over — with new details emerging, including a wild flip, a Microsoft takeover, staff threats, and more.
Can OpenAI survive a company-wide revolt? Let’s dive in…
In today’s AI rundown:
The OpenAI saga continues
Amazon provides free skills training with ‘AI Ready’
10 new AI tools to try
How to craft a stylish new signature with AI
Microsoft muzzles AI Disney poster trend
C3 AI fires staffers, cites performance & costs
Runway amps up creative control with new features
Read time: 4 minutes
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
OPENAI
Image source: Midjourney
The Rundown: The OpenAI saga continued on Monday, with chief scientist Ilya Sutskever flipping his support, a potential return for Sam Altman, employees signing a letter calling on the board to resign, and CEO drama.
If you’re just getting started with this real-life soap opera, check out yesterday’s newsletter to get up to speed.
Today’s updates:
Sutskever, who initially appeared to be one of the main drivers in Altman’s firing, flipped his support — signing the employee letter and tweeting that he ‘deeply regretted his participation.’
Despite the initial tweet from Nadella, Sam Altman joining Microsoft is not a done deal — and that he is still trying to return to OpenAI.
Over 745 of 770 OpenAI employees have signed a letter to the board, threatening to join Microsoft unless board members resign.
Interim CEO Emmett Shear posted a 30-day plan for the company.
In a report from The Information, it appears Emmett Shear was not the first pick as CEO.
Alexandr Wang (CEO of Scale AI) and Nat Friedman (Former CEO of GitHub) both declined the offer before Emmett.
Lastly, the OpenAI board approached Anthropic (OpenAI’s top competitor) for a potential MERGER but was declined.
Our thoughts: This saga looks far from over — with plenty of maneuvering still happening behind the scenes. Will Altman return to OpenAI or recreate the company under a new Microsoft branch? Did power drive the move by the board, or did some new advancement scare them?
More to come as the story unfolds…
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AMAZON
Image source: Amazon
The Rundown: Amazon just announced a new commitment to provide free AI skills training to 2 million people globally by 2025 through their "AI Ready" initiative — which includes free courses, scholarships, and more.
The details:
‘AI Ready’ includes 8 new free online AI courses aligned with in-demand jobs for both business and technical audiences.
A $12 million scholarship program with Udacity will provide 50K students with access to a generative AI course.
A new study from AWS found strong employer demand for AI skills, with AI-related salaries also coming in up to 47% higher.
The relevance: If AI is going to be as integral to society as we all think, getting both the younger generation and the workforce more comfortable with the tech is imperative. Initiatives like this can help open up AI resources to all.
QUESTION OF THE DAY
Where do you think Sam Altman ends up?Vote below (click for live results) |
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AI TRAINING
Want to give your signature an AI makeover? Create a memorable sign-off that will stand out amongst the crowd — perfect for the bottom of your emails!
Check out the prompt below to spruce up your signature (H/T Umesh AI for the creative and awesome idea):
Prompt: "Highly minimalist, single-line drawing where the outline of a tiny [OBJECT] on the left smoothly and fluidly transitions continuing into a signature on the right. The signature, prominently spelling out '[NAME]', should be clear, legible, and stylish on a [white/black] canvas. This drawing should embody simplicity and elegance, capturing the essence of a sophisticated and personal brand with an artistic and graceful feel." Just replace the object and name tags and choose the background color.
QUICK HITS
Following a trend of Disney-style movie posters via AI generators, Microsoft moved to block the term "Disney" on Bing’s image generator to squash the viral craze. The action raises questions around copyright and training, as well as Disney’s grapple with AI amid previous backlash around its use.
AI software maker C3.ai reportedly cut an unknown number of workers for "performance" reasons and to reduce costs. With layoffs mounting across tech, the company blamed individual workers amid its own struggles to gain profitability.
AI video startup Runway just rolled out new tools to boost creative direction in generative video. The official rollout of the Motion Brush lets users paint in controllable motion, Style Presets dial up specific new aesthetics, and an updated ‘Director Mode’ gives camera controls additional finesse.
Browse all available AI job positions with our job board.
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THAT’S A WRAP
That’s it for today’s news in the world of AI!
If you have anything interesting to share, please reach out to us by sending us a DM on Twitter: @rowancheung & @therundownai
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