Microsoft hires Sam Altman to lead advanced AI research team after OpenAI ousting – business live | Business

Back in the UK, is the government planning to hit benefits claimants with a smaller rise in their payments next April?

Steve Webb, the former pensions minister, has spotted that the Department for Work and Pensions has scheduled “an ‘ad hoc’ publication on benefit upratings on Wednesday”, which is the day of the autumn statement.

Webb predicts:

Looks like this will be their defensive doc, justifying using the more recent inflation figure.

That might be a sign that chancellor Jeremy Hunt is planning to use October’s annual inflation rate, of 4.6%, to set increases in benefits, rather than September’s reading (6.7%) as usual.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has calculated that using the October rather than September inflation rate would cut working-age benefits spending by about £3 billion in 2024–25, largely by reducing entitlements for the 8 million working-age households receiving means-tested or disability benefits.

That could provide firepower for Hunt to cut taxes. But it would also be a blow to millions of strugging households, who have already suffered from the cost of living squeeze.

Several anti-poverty charities have already warned Hunt not to squeeze benefits by using October’s inflation reading:

Microsoft has hired Sam Altman as head of new advanced artificial intelligence team after attempts to reinstall him as chief executive of OpenAI failed.

The appointment was confirmed in a statement on X by the Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, on Monday.

At the end of a dramatic weekend of boardroom drama, the non-profit board of the San Francisco-based OpenAI has installed Emmett Shear, the co-founder of video streaming site Twitch, as the company’s third CEO in three days, according to multiple reports.

Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor, has moved quickly to take on a key figure in the AI industry. It said on Monday morning it had appointed Altman and OpenAI’s former president, Greg Brockman, to lead a new advanced AI team at the company.

More here.

Emmett Shear has confirmed he has accepted the “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to become the interim CEO of OpenAI, and will reform its management and leadership team.

Posting on X, Shear says he had been enjoying time with his 9-month old son, whose arrival prompted his departure from Twitch.

But he says, he is returning to work because he believes OpenAI is one of the most important companies currently in existence.

Shear says:

When the board shared the situation and asked me to take the role, I did not make the decision lightly. Ultimately I felt that I had a duty to help if I could.

Shear says OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft “remains strong” (a claim that will now be tested by MS’s hiring of Sam Altman).

And he says “the process and communications” around Altman’s removal last Friday has been “handled very badly” (something that’s hard to argue with).

Shear says he will make whatever changes are necessary, and had a three-point plan for the next 30 days:

• Hire an independent investigator to dig into the entire process leading up to this point and generate a full report.

• Continue to speak to as many of our employees, partners, investors, and customers as possible, take good notes, and share the key takeaways.

• Reform the management and leadership team in light of recent departures into an effective force to drive results for our customers.

He also adds that he “checked on the reasoning” for Altman’s dismissal, explaining:

The board did *not* remove Sam over any specific disagreement on safety, their reasoning was completely different from that. I’m not crazy enough to take this job without board support for commercializing our awesome models.

Sam Altman has posted that “the mission continues”, as he heads to Microsoft to head up a new team conducting artificial intelligence research,

Newsflash: Microsoft has sensationally hired Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to lead a new advanced AI research team, just days after the pair left OpenAI.

Microsoft’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, has announced the surprise move, which could shake up the AI industry.

It comes just hours after it became clear that Altman was not returning to OpenAI, with Emmett Shear being named as interim replacement instead.

Perhaps ominously for OpenAI, Nadella says Altman and Brockman will join “together with colleagues”.

Nadella also says that Microsoft – a key investor in OpenAI – is looking forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI’s new leadership team.

In a post on X, Nadella says:

We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners.

We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI’s new leadership team and working with them.

And we’re extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.

The question of who will run artificial intelligence pioneer OpenAI is gripping Silicon Valley, after the shock dismissal of CEO Sam Altman on Friday night.

And after a flurry of speculation that Altman will return, it appears OpenAI’s board has selected Emmett Shear, co-founder of video streaming service Twitch, as its interim chief executive.

OpenAI had faced calls from investors to reinstate the ousted Altman.

But Bloomberg reports that Shear, a computer scientist, has got the nod because “he appeared to recognize the existential threats that AI presented”, and has the expertise to lead a large engineering group.

Shear stepped down as chief executive officer of Twitch in March, saying he was now ready to move to the next phase of life, having become a father.

Shear would be OpenAI’s second interim CEO in under a week, as the board had initially appointed chief technology officer Mira Murati as interim CEO on Friday afternoon.

Altman has been regarded as the leading voice in the AI field since his company released ChatGPT in November 2022. But he was stunningly ousted from OpenAI on Friday night, with the board accusing him of “being not consistently candid in his communications”.

President and co-founder Greg Brockman quit the next day, saying he had been told he was being removed from the board, adding that he continues to “believe in the mission of creating safe AGI that benefits all of humanity.”

By Sunday, rumours were swirling that Murati was looking to rehire Alman and Brockman in some capacity.

Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon told staffers in a memo Saturday night that 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, C

And there was excitement last night that a deal could be close, after Altman posted a picture of himself wearing an OpenAI visitor badge, writing, “first and last time i ever wear one of these.”

But the coup against Altman will not, it seems, be reversed.

OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever has told staff that Shear has a “unique mix of skills, expertise and relationships that will drive OpenAI forward,” according to a memo viewed by The New York Times.

But the decision could deepen a crisis precipitated by the board’s sudden ouster of Altman and its removal of President Greg Brockman from the board on Friday, reports tech news site The Information.

The agenda

• 10am GMT: Eurozone construction PMI for September

• 3pm GMT: Conference Board leading economic index on US economy

• 6.45pm GMT: Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey to give 2023 Henry Plumb Memorial Lecture