The Information

OpenAI's Ilya Sutskever via Getty.

Dozens of Staffers Quit OpenAI After Sutskever Says Altman Won’t Return

By Amir Efrati · Nov 19, 2023 10:29pm PST · 14 comments

Dozens of OpenAI staffers internally announced they were quitting the company Sunday night, said a person with knowledge of the situation, after board director and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever told employees that fired CEO Sam Altman would not return. The moves could hamper the company's ability to move forward after the shock... Dozens of OpenAI staffers internally announced they were quitting the company Sunday night,...

OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Ilya Sutskever speak together in Tel Aviv on June 5, 2023.

Emmett Shear Becomes Interim OpenAI CEO as Altman Talks Break Down

By Amir Efrati and Anissa Gardizy · Nov 19, 2023 8:58pm PST · 43 comments

Sam Altman won’t return as CEO of OpenAI, despite efforts by the company’s executives to bring him back, according to co-founder and board director Ilya Sutskever. After a weekend of negotiations with the board of directors that fired him Friday, as well as with its remaining leaders and top investors, Altman will not return to the... Sam Altman won’t return as CEO of OpenAI, despite efforts by the company’s executives...

Sam Altman at the OpenAI DevDay event on Nov. 6 in San Francisco. Photo by Getty.

Altman, Brockman Arrive at OpenAI Headquarters as Execs Push to Reinstate Them

By Erin Woo and Amir Efrati · Nov 19, 2023 12:06pm PST · 5 comments

Two days after OpenAI’s board of directors fired him, Sam Altman joined executives at the company’s San Francisco headquarters Sunday as they pushed the board to reinstate him and other recently departed executives, said a person with knowledge of the situatioin. Interim CEO Mira Murati earlier told staff that she and the leadership... Two days after OpenAI’s board of directors fired him, Sam Altman joined executives at the...

Sam Altman receiving an award on behalf of OpenAI in Cambridge, England on November 1. Photo by Nordin Catic via Getty.

OpenAI’s Rivals Rush to Poach Staff After Altman Ouster

By Stephanie Palazzolo, Natasha Mascarenhas, Jon Victor and Kate Clark · Nov 19, 2023 9:47am PST

Sam Altman receiving an award on behalf of OpenAI in Cambridge, England on November 1. Photo by Nordin Catic via Getty.

OpenAI’s Rivals Rush to Poach Staff After Altman Ouster

By Stephanie Palazzolo, Natasha Mascarenhas, Jon Victor and Kate Clark · Nov 19, 2023 9:47am PST

For at least a brief moment, OpenAI's rivals caught a lucky break. After spending the last year racing to catch up to the ChatGPT developer’s lead, OpenAI competitors learned the jaw-dropping news: the startup’s board had pushed out Altman. By Sunday it looked like the reprieve would be short-lived, as growing employee and... For at least a brief moment, OpenAI's rivals caught a lucky break. After spending the last...

OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman with then-CTO Mira Murati on Oct. 17. AFP via Getty

OpenAI ‘Optimistic’ It Can Bring Back Sam Altman, Greg Brockman

By Erin Woo, Anissa Gardizy and Amir Efrati · Nov 18, 2023 10:25pm PST · 25 comments

OpenAI is “optimistic” it can bring back Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and other key employees who departed in the wake of Altman’s sudden firing on Friday, Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon told staffers in a memo Saturday night, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Executives will be able to share another update... OpenAI is “optimistic” it can bring back Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and other key...

Greg Brockman and Sam Altman at a fireside chat organized by SoftBank Ventures Asia on June 5 in Seoul. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

OpenAI Co-Founder Altman Plans New AI Venture

By Kate Clark and Cory Weinberg · Nov 18, 2023 11:46am PST · 13 comments

Sam Altman, the recently ousted CEO of OpenAI, has been telling investors that he is planning to launch a new artificial intelligence venture, according to a person familiar with the matter. Former OpenAI president Greg Brockman is expected to join the effort and the project is still in development, the person said. The exact nature of the... Sam Altman, the recently ousted CEO of OpenAI, has been telling investors that he is planning to...

OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman. Photo via AP.

OpenAI’s $86 Billion Share Sale in Jeopardy Following Altman Firing

By Kate Clark, Aaron Holmes and Jon Victor · Nov 18, 2023 10:53am PST · 2 comments

A planned sale of OpenAI employee shares that would value the startup at about $86 billion on paper hangs in the balance after the sudden firing of CEO Sam Altman and a slew of top executive departures. The tender offer, which Thrive Capital is leading, has not yet closed but has been in its final stages and was expected to be completed as soon... A planned sale of OpenAI employee shares that would value the startup at about $86 billion on...

OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever. Photo via Getty

Three Senior OpenAI Researchers Resign as Crisis Deepens

By Jon Victor and Amir Efrati · Nov 17, 2023 10:41pm PST · 25 comments

OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever. Photo via Getty

Three Senior OpenAI Researchers Resign as Crisis Deepens

By Jon Victor and Amir Efrati · Nov 17, 2023 10:41pm PST · 25 comments

Three senior researchers at OpenAI resigned Friday night as the artificial intelligence developer suffered fallout from the firing of CEO Sam Altman and sudden resignation of President Greg Brockman, according to several people with knowledge of the situation. Jakub Pachocki, the company’s director of research; Aleksander Madry, head of a... Three senior researchers at OpenAI resigned Friday night as the artificial intelligence developer...

Sam Altman and Ilya Sutskever speaking at Tel Aviv University on June 5. Photo by Jack Guez/AFP via Getty.

Before OpenAI Ousted Altman, Employees Disagreed Over AI ‘Safety’

By Jon Victor, Stephanie Palazzolo, Anissa Gardizy and Amir Efrati · Nov 17, 2023 6:40pm PST · 18 comments

OpenAI’s ouster of CEO Sam Altman on Friday followed internal arguments among employees about whether the company was developing artificial intelligence safely enough, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Such disagreements were high on the minds of some employees during an impromptu all-hands meeting following the firing.... OpenAI’s ouster of CEO Sam Altman on Friday followed internal arguments among employees...

OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman. Photo by Getty.

Interim OpenAI CEO: Microsoft Has ‘Utmost Confidence’ in Startup Following Altman Departure

By Erin Woo, Anissa Gardizy, Aaron Holmes and Amir Efrati · Nov 17, 2023 2:43pm PST · 11 comments

OpenAI Interim CEO Mira Murati on Friday told staff in a companywide meeting that its relationship with Microsoft—its biggest outside source of capital and computing power—was stable following the sudden firing of CEO Sam Altman, according to people with knowledge of the meeting. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and CTO Kevin Scott... OpenAI Interim CEO Mira Murati on Friday told staff in a companywide meeting that its...

Illustration by Lina Chekhovich/Adobe Stock.

‘Figma Took Their Lunch Money’: How $2 Billion Design Startup InVision Fell Apart

By Maria Heeter · Nov 17, 2023 6:00am PST · 11 comments

The founder and CEO of InVision saw the siege coming. His successful user interface design startup was growing fast, having built a product that some expected to put Adobe, the juggernaut of the design industry, back on its heels. But Adobe was working on a next-generation app of its own, and another upstart, Figma, was gaining momentum with... The founder and CEO of InVision saw the siege coming. His successful user interface design...

Google CEO Sundar Pichai discussing Gemini in May, via YouTube.

Google Delays Release of Gemini AI That Aims to Compete With OpenAI

By Jon Victor · Nov 16, 2023 4:07pm PST · 2 comments

Google CEO Sundar Pichai discussing Gemini in May, via YouTube.

Google Delays Release of Gemini AI That Aims to Compete With OpenAI

By Jon Victor · Nov 16, 2023 4:07pm PST · 2 comments

Google’s company-defining effort to catch up to ChatGPT creator OpenAI is turning out to be harder than expected. Google representatives earlier this year told some cloud customers and business partners they would get access to the company’s new conversational AI, a large language model known as Gemini, by November. But the company... Google’s company-defining effort to catch up to ChatGPT creator OpenAI is turning out to be...

New Web Summit CEO, Katherine Maher, at the first day of the event on November 13 in Lisbon. Photo by Getty.

Two Startups Reject Web Summit Money in Fallout From Ex-CEO’s Remarks

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 16, 2023 7:30am PST · 4 comments

Web Summit attempted to put a turbulent chapter behind it this week, drawing more than 70,000 attendees to the annual tech conference in Lisbon. But the fallout from its former CEO's remarks isn’t over. Two Israeli startups, Lasso Security and Ask-AI, are rejecting the investments of the tech conference’s venture arm after former... Web Summit attempted to put a turbulent chapter behind it this week, drawing more than 70,000...

JPMorgan's Onyx Lounge in Decentraland, complete with digital tiger. Photo via YouTube/BeFuture.

JPMorgan’s Blockchain Business Onyx Searches for Its Identity—and Revenue

By Michael Roddan · Nov 16, 2023 6:00am PST · 2 comments

In early 2022, JPMorgan Chase proudly claimed it was the first bank to enter the metaverse. Inside a crypto-focused virtual world called Decentraland, users could visit the swanky Onyx lounge, named after the bank’s blockchain operations, to mingle with fellow crypto enthusiasts and watch videos of the bank’s experts discussing... In early 2022, JPMorgan Chase proudly claimed it was the first bank to enter the metaverse. ...

Philippe Laffont, founder of Coatue Management. Photo by Bloomberg via Getty.

Coatue Raises $1.4 Billion Fund, Cuts Fees as Venture Firms Navigate Frigid Market

By Kate Clark and Erin Woo · Nov 15, 2023 12:36pm PST · 1 comment

To entice their investors off the sidelines, venture capital firms are turning to a tactic used during the dot-com bust: discounts. Coatue Management recently raised $1.4 billion for a companion fund to its $7.7 billion VC growth fund, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. Coatue is not charging existing investors in the... To entice their investors off the sidelines, venture capital firms are turning to a tactic used...

Left to right: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photos via Getty.

Before TikTok Turned Into a Rival, Amazon Saw a Potential Partner

By Theo Wayt and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Nov 15, 2023 7:30am PST

Left to right: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photos via Getty.

Before TikTok Turned Into a Rival, Amazon Saw a Potential Partner

By Theo Wayt and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan · Nov 15, 2023 7:30am PST

Late last year, Amazon executives met with their counterparts at TikTok parent ByteDance to propose a novel idea: creating a new advertising format that would let customers buy items from Amazon ads on TikTok without leaving the app, according to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions. A partnership could have been a breakthrough for... Late last year, Amazon executives met with their counterparts at TikTok parent ByteDance to...

Photo by AFP via Getty.

Shein’s Revenue Surged More Than 40%, Likely Surpassing Zara

By Jing Yang · Nov 15, 2023 6:38am PST · 2 comments

Shein’s revenue surged more than 40% to $24 billion between January and September from a year earlier, people familiar with its finances said, growth that highlights the mounting threat for Amazon as the China-founded retailer looks to expand beyond fast fashion by ramping up sales of other goods like appliances and electronics. Shein,... Shein’s revenue surged more than 40% to $24 billion between January and September from a...

Evan Spiegel. Photo by AFP via Getty.

To Revive Snap, Evan Spiegel Promotes Hardcore Work Culture

By Erin Woo · Nov 14, 2023 11:55am PST · 15 comments

Snap co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel has lately taken to walking around his company’s Santa Monica, Calif., headquarters in the evenings, stopping at employees’ desks and asking what they’re working on. He has noticed, however, that he always spots the same handful of people working late in the office, he told employees at a... Snap co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel has lately taken to walking around his company’s Santa...

ByteDance's Douyin Group offices in Beijing. Photo by Andrea Verdelli/Bloomberg via Getty.

ByteDance Revenue Surges to $29 Billion in Second Quarter, Closing in on Meta

By Cory Weinberg, Juro Osawa and Jing Yang · Nov 14, 2023 6:00am PST

ByteDance is closing the revenue gap with Facebook owner Meta Platforms as it generates more sales from advertising and e-commerce. The Chinese owner of TikTok saw revenue surge more than 40% to $29 billion in the second quarter from a year earlier, according to people with knowledge of the figures. That’s a far higher growth rate than... ByteDance is closing the revenue gap with Facebook owner Meta Platforms as it generates more...

Photo by Getty.

Amazon Reaches Deal to Run Shopping Ads on Snap

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Theo Wayt · Nov 13, 2023 7:06pm PST

Photo by Getty.

Amazon Reaches Deal to Run Shopping Ads on Snap

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Theo Wayt · Nov 13, 2023 7:06pm PST

Amazon has reached a deal with Snap that will let people buy Amazon products directly from ads on the Snapchat app, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed. The previously unreported arrangement closely resembles an ad partnership announced last week between Amazon and Meta Platforms, which lets people buy products through Amazon ads on Instagram and... Amazon has reached a deal with Snap that will let people buy Amazon products directly from ads on...