The interesting aspect of this entire movement is the role that Microsoft has gained, an essential partner of OpenAI. Following the back and forth, Microsoft has secured an observer seat without voting rights on the non-profit board that oversees OpenAI, as announced by the company on Wednesday.
But, getting back to the heart of the matter, Sam Altman is back, and the AI guru wanted to share some words on the day he reassumes the position of CEO of OpenAI. Let’s see what he has to say.
Sam Altman is back as CEO, Mira Murati as CTO and Greg Brockman as President. OpenAI has a new initial board. Messages from @sama and board chair @btaylorhttps://t.co/sP0kAQIeKg
“Never have I been so excited about the future,” Altman said in a note to employees. “I am extremely grateful for everyone’s hard work in an unclear and unprecedented situation, and I believe our resilience and spirit set us apart in the industry. I feel very, very good about our chances of success in achieving our mission.”
Now that three of the four board members who had decided to dismiss Altman suddenly are no longer present, the new OpenAI board consists of chairman Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo, the sole remaining member from the previous board.
Microsoft’s addition to the board as an “observer without voting rights” means that the tech giant will have more visibility into the company’s internal workings but no official vote on crucial decisions.
a year ago tonight we were probably just sitting around the office putting the finishing touches on chatgpt before the next morning’s launch.
Microsoft is one of the primary investors in OpenAI, holding a 49% stake in the for-profit entity that controls the non-profit board.
Until now, it hadn’t had visibility on that board. Altman’s dismissal came as a big surprise and jeopardized what has quickly become one of the most important partnerships in the tech industry.
In his note to employees, Altman stated that he holds “no ill will” towards Ilya Sutskever, co-founder, and Chief Scientist of OpenAI, who initially participated in the board’s coup and later changed his stance after nearly all of the company’s employees threatened to resign if Altman did not return.
“Although Ilya will no longer be part of the board, we expect to continue our working relationship and are discussing how he can continue his work at OpenAI,” explained the returning CEO. Undoubtedly, changes are about to begin, despite any contrary messaging we might receive.
The latest drama between Sam Altman and the OpenAI board is what everyone has been talking about for a while. Many people criticized Altman’s exit from the company, and after some time, he returned to his position while three of the board members who voted against him lost their seats. Yes, Sam Altman is back, and everyone is very excited about it, but he has also brought a multi-billionaire friend to the table. According to the latest news, Microsoft will also have a seat on OpenAI’s board, but it will be named the “non-voting observer” seat.
With Altman back in command, three board members who once opposed him find themselves replaced, creating a fresh dynamic. The revamped board now comprises Bret Taylor as the chair, Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo, the lone survivor from the prior lineup. This transformation sets the stage for an era where collaboration and innovation take center stage, fueled by the collective expertise of the newly aligned leadership.
The spotlight, however, is on Microsoft’s distinctive role as a “non-voting observer.” This position grants the tech behemoth a privileged insight into the inner workings of OpenAI, without wielding an official vote in major decisions. This means they get to see what’s happening inside OpenAI but can’t raise their hand when big decisions are made. Microsoft owns almost half of the business side of OpenAI, so this new setup is a way for them to be more involved and understand what’s going on.
The surprise exit of Altman in the past threatened the robust partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI. Now, with the visionary leader back at the helm and Microsoft securing a strategic perch on the board, the future looks promising for this dynamic collaboration at the forefront of AI innovation.
Altman’s memo
Altman shared a memo with all of the OpenAI staff to express his feelings and give the latest news. Here is a full version of the memo thanks to The Verge:
I am returning to OpenAI as CEO. Mira will return to her role as CTO. The new initial board will consist of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo.
I have never been more excited about the future. I am extremely grateful for everyone’s hard work in an unclear and unprecedented situation, and I believe our resilience and spirit set us apart in the industry. I feel so, so good about our probability of success for achieving our mission.
Before getting to what comes next, I’d like to share some thanks.
I love and respect Ilya, I think he’s a guiding light of the field and a gem of a human being. I harbor zero ill will towards him. While Ilya will no longer serve on the board, we hope to continue our working relationship and are discussing how he can continue his work at OpenAI.
I am grateful to Adam, Tasha, and Helen for working with us to come to this solution that best serves the mission. I’m excited to continue to work with Adam and am sincerely thankful to Helen and Tasha for investing a huge amount of effort in this process.
Thank you also to Emmett who had a key and constructive role in helping us reach this outcome. Emmett’s dedication to AI safety and balancing stakeholders’ interests was clear.
Mira did an amazing job throughout all of this, serving the mission, the team, and the company selflessly throughout. She is an incredible leader and OpenAI would not be OpenAI without her. Thank you.
Greg and I are partners in running this company. We have never quite figured out how to communicate that on the org chart, but we will. In the meantime, I just wanted to make it clear. Thank you for everything you have done since the very beginning, and for how you handled things from the moment this started and over the past few days.
The leadership team–Mira, Brad, Jason, Che, Hannah, Diane, Anna, Bob, Srinivas, Matt, Lilian, Miles, Jan, Wojciech, John, Jonathan, Pat, and many more–is clearly ready to run the company without me. They say one way to evaluate a CEO is how you pick and train your potential successors; on that metric I am doing far better than I realized. It’s clear to me that the company is in great hands, and I hope this is abundantly clear to everyone. Thank you all.
Jakub, Szymon, and Aleksander are exceptional talents and I’m so happy they have rejoined to move us and our research forward. Thank you.
To all of you, our team: I am sure books are going to be written about this time period, and I hope the first thing they say is how amazing the entire team has been. Now that we’re through all of this, we didn’t lose a single employee. You stood firm for each other, this company, and our mission. One of the most important things for the team that builds AGI safely is the ability to handle stressful and uncertain situations, and maintain good judgment throughout. Top marks. Thank you all.
Satya, Kevin, Amy, and Brad have been incredible partners throughout this, with exactly the right priorities all the way through. They’ve had our backs and were ready to welcome all of us if we couldn’t achieve our primary goal. We clearly made the right choice to partner with Microsoft and I’m excited that our new board will include them as a non-voting observer. Thank you.
To our partners and users, thank you for sticking with us. We really felt the outpouring of support and love, and it helped all of us get through this. The fact that we did not lose a single customer will drive us to work even harder for you, and we are all excited to get back to work.
Will Hurd, Brian Chesky, Bret Taylor and Larry Summers put their lives on hold and did an incredible amount to support the mission. I don’t know how they did it so well, but they really did. Thank you.
Ollie also put his life on hold this entire time to just do everything he could to help out, in addition to providing his usual unconditional love and support. Thank you and I love you.
So what’s next?
We have three immediate priorities.
Advancing our research plan and further investing in our full-stack safety efforts, which have always been critical to our work. Our research roadmap is clear; this was a wonderfully focusing time. I share the excitement you all feel; we will turn this crisis into an opportunity! I’ll work with Mira on this.
Continuing to improve and deploy our products and serve our customers. It’s important that people get to experience the benefits and promise of AI, and have the opportunity to shape it. We continue to believe that great products are the best way to do this. I’ll work with Brad, Jason and Anna to ensure our unwavering commitment to users, customers, partners and governments around the world is clear.
Bret, Larry, and Adam will be working very hard on the extremely important task of building out a board of diverse perspectives, improving our governance structure, and overseeing an independent review of recent events. I look forward to working closely with them on these crucial steps so everyone can be confident in the stability of OpenAI.
I am so looking forward to finishing the job of building beneficial AGI with you all—best team in the world, best mission in the world.
Luckily, for all the heist art enthusiasts, Disney+ has just released a series centered around one last impossible job, a task that will enable them to retire forever.
Consisting of eight episodes, critics are praising it highly. If you’re not familiar with what “Criminales” (Culprits in English) is about, keep reading, as this might pique your interest.
What is the new series “Culprits ” on Disney+ about?
If you’re wondering why “Criminales” isn’t a movie but an eight-episode series, it’s because it’s based on an anthology, “Culprits: The Heist Was Only The Beginning,” a collection of stories about criminals after the heist.
“Culprits” reluctantly brings together a group of heist specialists who have moved on with their lives and the loot. Years after a major heist in London went awry, a masked killer tracks them down.
It’s essentially like “Ocean’s 12,” where Terry Benedict locates the eleven team members and demands they return his money. However, this lasts for eight hours instead of two, which has its pros and cons: you can delve deeper into each character, play a longer and more realistic game, but the heist genre typically benefits from brevity to maintain excitement.
At the helm of the series is the protagonist David Marking, a family man and restaurant owner leading a quiet life in the state of Washington with his partner Jules and some very attractive kids.
However, David’s past as a robber threatens to unravel his suburban happiness and his new identity under the name Joe Petrus. Before the killer arrives in the United States, David must locate his former teammates in the United Kingdom and figure out who has them in the crosshairs.
One last job, it can’t go wrong
If “Culprits” seems like a derivative of previous heist movies and television shows, at least the series respectfully adheres to the formula, making a series of changes, especially by starting after the heist and altering the timeline.
Essentially, the heist is the classic “one last job,” the ultimate loot that will allow this group of misfits to retire. Of course, the plan will derail. And that’s where the justification for the eight episodes lies.
Now available on Disney+ to watch from your comfortable sofa, in the living room of your home.
The idea that Apple could abandon the project must be taken with great caution. We will see how events unfold.
Apple might be facing a significant setback in its plans to develop its own 5G modem for the iPhone. According to unconfirmed reports from Asia, the company has experienced several unsuccessful attempts to perfect this key component, potentially leading to the cancellation of this project.
The reports, as collected by MacRumors, have been originated by sources within Apple’s 5G modem supply chain departments and disclosed by the account yeux1122 on the Naver blog. These suggest that Apple’s efforts to develop its own modem have failed thus far. This has led the company to consider discontinuing its multi-year investment in this project. Separately, the leaker known as @Tech_Reve also indicated having heard similar reports from a supply chain source in Japan.
In 2019, Apple acquired the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem business. While staffing up the project with engineers from Intel and other hires from Qualcomm, the company executives aimed to have the modem chip ready by the fall of 2023.
Earlier this month, Mark Gurman informed us that Apple was still facing challenges in its attempt to develop a 5G modem to replace Qualcomm’s 5G modems in the iPhone and other products. It was reported that the modem’s release had been postponed until late 2025 or early 2026, but Apple supposedly still planned to introduce the technology in the iPhone SE.
It’s too early to tell if the impediments in chip development could lead to the cancellation of the project. In recent years, Apple has transitioned many of its key components to in-house production. The truth is, due to their high secrecy, we are completely unaware of the impediments they encountered in developing Apple Silicon chips. Therefore, given the importance of a communication chip in devices — including a 5G-enabled MacBook — one must approach the idea of Apple abandoning the project with caution. We’ll see how events unfold.
Awards that, beyond being a recognition of technical and aesthetic quality, celebrate applications and games that have managed to positively influence society, promoting creativity, learning and connection between people.
Apple, in its continuous pursuit of excellence and innovation, has announced the winners of the 2023 App Store Awards, highlighting the best in applications and games for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and other devices. After announcing the finalists for the award, Apple has this year recognized 14 applications and games, chosen by its global editorial team from the App Store.
According to Apple, the winners of the 2023 App Store Awards have provided users with “very meaningful experiences” and inspired cultural changes. Therefore, these applications and games have been chosen for their ability to “empower users to unleash their creativity, discover a world of new adventures, and have fun with family and friends.”
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, expressed his admiration for the work of the developers, noting that “it’s inspiring to see how developers continue to build amazing apps and games that are redefining the world around us.” This year’s winners, he said, represent the limitless potential of developers to bring their visions to reality, creating apps and games with exceptional ingenuity and quality.
Apple selected winners for the App of the Year for each of its devices, as well as the Game of the Year for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
In the applications category, the winners are:
iPhone App of the Year: AllTrails by AllTrails, Inc.
iPad App of the Year: Prêt-à-Makeup by Prêt-à-Template.
Mac App of the Year: Photomator by UAB Pixelmator Team.
Additionally, Apple selected five winners in the Cultural Impact category, recognized for their ability to drive positive change through applications and games. The recognition goes to Pok Pok, Proloquo, Too Good to Go, Unpacking, and Finding Hannah.
Finally, the Trend of the Year, according to Apple, was generative artificial intelligence, with applications integrating AI in multiple ways throughout the year. This is something we’ve certainly been observing in the App Store over the past few months.
All winners of App of the Year and Game of the Year will receive a physical prize from the App Store, modeled after the App Store logo. With this, Apple’s 2023 App Store Awards manage to highlight excellence and innovation in the world of applications and games, while also reflecting the cultural and creative impact they can have on our daily lives. These awards, beyond being a recognition of technical and aesthetic quality, celebrate the applications and games that have positively influenced society, fostering creativity, learning, and connection among people.
Phantom Liberty has been a success beyond CD Projekt’s expectations, making the studio’s security with Cyberpunk 2077 grow
CD Projekt seems to turn everything they touch into gold. Whether we like it more or less, whether the outcome is better or worse, the truth is that the sales of all their games have been excellent since they created a little game called “The Witcher.” And that hasn’t changed. Even with the release of Cyberpunk 2077, a game riddled with bugs and far from what was promised, they managed to achieve incredible sales. What wouldn’t they achieve if the game worked well and delivered at least part of what was promised?
CD Projekt has unveiled the sales figures for “Phantom Liberty,” the expansion for Cyberpunk 2077, which, as expected, have been remarkably notable. Especially considering how well the original game performed.
During its first week, Phantom Liberty sold three million copies across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC. Now, CD Projekt states that, after two months on the market, the expansion has already sold 4.3 million copies. This has led Adam Kiciński, CEO of CD Projekt, to affirm that it reinforces their plans to continue developing the franchise in the near future.
As Kiciński himself recently explained, Cyberpunk 2077 has sold nearly 25 million copies worldwide since its launch in December 2020. This means that, despite its questionable state upon release and delivering less than promised, it has sold much faster than The Witcher 3 did at its time, making Cyberpunk 2077 a resounding success despite the problems it has faced over time.
This trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. After all, CD Projekt has announced the release of Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition on December 5th, an edition of the game that will include the Phantom Liberty expansion, available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC. Therefore, it’s expected that the spectacular sales figures of Cyberpunk 2077 will only continue to grow in the future.
Contents that self-destruct are finally arriving on WhatsApp after years of anticipation from millions of users. This feature, which was activated over two years ago on the most popular messaging platform in the market (though, like many other improvements, was inspired by Telegram), can now be enjoyed by WhatsApp desktop users, as previously they did not have access to this content.
Before this enhancement, WhatsApp desktop users were compelled to use their smartphones to view photos or videos with self-destruct capabilities, as that content was not available for playback on a PC. Now, however, such content can be easily viewed on your PC screen without any issues.
Thanks to this new improvement, WhatsApp desktop users will have access to a functionality that, until now, had been deprived from them. There might be various scenarios where a person receives an image or video that self-destructs, and in such cases, these users utilizing the desktop application won’t feel excluded.
Often, users who frequently employ WhatsApp via PC tend to be overlooked when it comes to receiving updates. However, this time, they can rejoice in the fact that Meta remembers there are millions of users who frequently utilize WhatsApp on their computers. In fact, many still demand more enhancements, such as the ability to personalize chat backgrounds, something that has been possible on smartphones for over 10 years.
WhatsApp is one of the most widely used messaging applications in the world.
WhatsApp and its roadmap
WhatsApp is working tirelessly to maintain its status as the most relevant instant messaging application today. To achieve this, it has chosen to expand its format related to communities and channels. With a very positive reception from users, the Meta-owned application has added improvements such as the ability to create voice chat group spaces in large groups, among other enhancements.
Additionally, WhatsApp has focused on enhancing the quality of content sent through its platform by introducing options for HD content transmission. By default, the application often compresses such content, reducing its size and consequently lowering its quality. However, with this improvement, users can now increase the quality of their sent content.
The recent headlines featuring OpenAI would provide enough material for a producer to make a biopic about it, and it seems that there will continue to be controversy between this company and Microsoft. In fact, OpenAI hasn’t hesitated to state that Microsoft won’t have a position on its board, nor will other minority investors.
It’s worth noting that, among other things, Microsoft holds 49% of OpenAI, positioning itself as its primary partner. However, with less than 51%, the company behind Windows cannot force OpenAI to make decisions it deems inappropriate. Thus, the creator of ChatGPT makes its stance clear, aiming to maintain independence.
According to reputable sources like Reuters, OpenAI doesn’t want Microsoft or any of its investors to have positions within its administrative core, regardless of the weight that Bill Gates’ company holds in its shareholding. In fact, the exclusion of Microsoft also extends to other investors; if Microsoft, with 49% ownership, doesn’t have that privilege, neither will other investors with smaller stakes.
In recent weeks, significant changes have occurred within OpenAI, primarily driven by the controversy surrounding events involving Sam Altman—his dismissal, subsequent return, and the subsequent dismissal of other company executives who mediated in the initial removal of OpenAI’s CEO. However, despite the changes made and those planned for their corporate structure, neither Microsoft nor other investors like Kosla Ventures or Thrive Capital will have a place in the company’s core.
ChatGPT is one of the most relevant proper names in the world of technology in this 2023.
ChatGPT, OpenAI’s treasure
It’s true that most of the interest surrounding OpenAI nowadays stems from the results achieved in its generative AI, ChatGPT, capable of responding to all sorts of written commands and performing a wide range of possible actions. In fact, this AI is so powerful that, besides paving the way for many other competitive AIs, it’s also reshaping the business landscape and entering into the production arena of thousands of jobs.
Moreover, it’s not just a tool causing profound changes in the world, but its core, currently GPT-4, is serving as the foundation for the construction of many other iterations. That’s why OpenAI has seemingly overnight become one of the most anticipated companies in the world of technology.
This film destined to fail ended up being a success at the box office, proving that video games work very well in the cinema.
It’s always said that film adaptations of video games aren’t successful. Not only are they considered cinematic disasters with low quality, but they also fail to draw audiences to theaters. However, this year both Mario and Sonic have proven this notion wrong. Yet, many might argue that they still need to show they can sell outside the family market. For those individuals, there’s news that will disappoint them greatly. Because the surprise hit of the year is a horror movie adapting a video game.
Five Nights at Freddy’s, the incredibly popular horror video game franchise by Scott Cawthon, has not only been a tremendous box office success but has also become the biggest hit in the history of its production company, Blumhouse.
While its debut set a record in its opening weekend, it’s now solidified its position as Blumhouse’s most successful film. Specifically, Five Nights at Freddy’s has grossed around $136 million in the USA and nearly $147 million elsewhere globally, reaching a staggering total box office figure of approximately $283 million. This sum is astounding for a mid-budget production, surpassing the previous record of the studio held by M. Night Shyamalan’s Split, which grossed $278.4 million during its theatrical run.
These figures might seem relatively modest to those accustomed only to Disney and Warner’s numbers. However, they are anything but modest for an independent horror film production company like Blumhouse. Especially considering that Five Nights at Freddy’s cost just around twenty million dollars to make, turning out to be an absolutely lucrative venture.
Considering it’s still in theaters and has only just started selling in home formats in some markets, it’s expected that this figure will continue to grow over time. But what’s evident is that the era when video game movies didn’t sell is no longer ours.
Video game adaptations are currently enjoying a very favorable moment. After years of disappointment where it was terrifying to see a game adapted into movies or series, lately we’ve had some real gems like The Last of Us, Arcane, and Super Mario Bros. These three titles have set a precedent to follow, and now there’s even a live-action feature film in production for The Legend of Zelda.
Amidst this situation, Amazon Prime Video has made its move with Fallout. The hugely famous sandbox video game will have its own adaptation in the form of a series, and it’s set to arrive much sooner than any of us could have imagined.
First images of the Fallout series
Amazon Prime Video has already shared the first images of the upcoming Fallout series. Undoubtedly, they are very reminiscent of the video game but with a cinematic touch that will delight fans of the saga. Here are all of them:
The official synopsis of Fallout makes it clear that we’re dealing with the same story as the video game, but with a narrative viewpoint that makes it very interesting:
“Fallout is set in a future where the world has been destroyed due to a nuclear war in 2077, resulting in a post-apocalyptic world in the year 2161 inhabited by mutants and humans. The latter survive through anti-nuclear bunkers built by a company called Vault-Tec. But when the water chip in the bunker malfunctions, one person must embark on a mission to find a new one and venture into this post-apocalyptic world that seeks to end them.”
