In June I had a conversation with chief scientist Ilya Sutskever at OpenAI’s headquarters, as I reported out WIRED’s October cover story. Among the topics we discussed was the unusual structure of the company. OpenAI began as a nonprofit research lab whose mission was to develop artificial intelligence on par or beyond human level—termed artificial… Continue reading OpenAI’s Boardroom Drama Could Mess Up Your Future
Author: Wired Magazine
Elon Musk Trolls His Way Into the OpenAI Drama
Elon Musk needed fewer than 100 characters to add new chaos to the ongoing crisis swirling around OpenAI after the shock firing of CEO Sam Altman last week. In a post on X Tuesday Musk drew attention to an anonymous letter accusing Altman of various examples of underhanded behavior as CEO of OpenAI. The link… Continue reading Elon Musk Trolls His Way Into the OpenAI Drama
14 Best Black Friday Sonos Deals (2023): Soundbars, Subwoofers, Bluetooth Speakers
Sonos makes some of our favorite speakers and soundbars— we’ve tested all of them and have yet to find one we dislike. These devices are expensive, but the good news is that Black Friday Sonos deals are here (even if it’s not Black Friday yet). Through November 27, you can snag sales on the company’s… Continue reading 14 Best Black Friday Sonos Deals (2023): Soundbars, Subwoofers, Bluetooth Speakers
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Quits and Pleads Guilty to Breaking US Law
Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao is stepping down as part of a settlement with the US Department of Justice, according to reports. The Wall Street Journal reports that Zhao will plead guilty to violating anti-money-laundering rules, and the crypto exchange will pay more than $4 billion in fines. A source with knowledge of the company’s… Continue reading Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Quits and Pleads Guilty to Breaking US Law
Temu Is Burning Cash to Challenge Shein and Amazon on Black Friday
A $5.93 mobile phone holder seemed like a gamble worth taking for Michelle Zhang. During the past year, she has become a regular shopper on the cut-price ecommerce app Temu, mostly purchasing home and kitchen appliances. “Things on Temu are usually less than half of their prices on Amazon, and you don’t have to purchase… Continue reading Temu Is Burning Cash to Challenge Shein and Amazon on Black Friday
Climate Activists Tell the EV Industry to Fix Its Filthy Supply Chain
Saturday’s demonstrators targeted South Korean auto giant Hyundai. In addition to criticizing the company’s reliance on coal-powered steel plants, which a report from climate groups linked to 506 pollution-related premature deaths in 2021, they also denounced the company’s reported labor practices. Last December, a Reuters investigation found undocumented children working in the automaker’s supply chain… Continue reading Climate Activists Tell the EV Industry to Fix Its Filthy Supply Chain
Secretive White House Surveillance Program Gives Cops Access to Trillions of US Phone Records
A little-known surveillance program tracks more than a trillion domestic phone records within the United States each year, according to a letter obtained by WIRED, sent by US senator Ron Wyden to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Sunday, challenging the program’s legality. According to the letter, a surveillance program now known as Data Analytical… Continue reading Secretive White House Surveillance Program Gives Cops Access to Trillions of US Phone Records
Meet Emmett Shear, OpenAI’s ‘Highly Intelligent, Socially Awkward’ Interim CEO
“I’m skeptical. If Twitch serves as a precursor of what’s to come in AI, we can expect a lot of opaque policies and missed opportunities,” argues Joost van Dreunen, a New York University business professor and author of One Up, a book on the global games business. “Twitch has succeeded almost in spite of its… Continue reading Meet Emmett Shear, OpenAI’s ‘Highly Intelligent, Socially Awkward’ Interim CEO
OpenAI Staff Threaten to Quit Unless Board Resigns
OpenAI was in open revolt on Monday with more than 600 employees signing an open letter threatening to leave unless the board resigns and reinstates Sam Altman as CEO, along with cofounder and former president Greg Brockman. Altman was controversially fired by the board on Friday. “The process through which you terminated Sam Altman and… Continue reading OpenAI Staff Threaten to Quit Unless Board Resigns
How OpenAI’s Bizarre Structure Gave 4 People the Power to Fire Sam Altman
Venture capitalists and employees could now get some return on the money or sweat that they invested in the company—but the nonprofit’s board still maintained ultimate say over the for-profit business through several new legal provisions, according to OpenAI. The directors’ primary fiduciary duty remained to uphold its mission of safe development of artificial general… Continue reading How OpenAI’s Bizarre Structure Gave 4 People the Power to Fire Sam Altman