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REDMOND, WA. – FEBRUARY 7: Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT’s parent company OpenAI, speaks to members of the media during Microsoft’s announcement of a new AI-powered Bing search at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, on Tuesday , February 7, 2023 (Photo by Jovelle Tamayo/ for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The Washington Post via Getty Images
THEpenAI had its own episode Succession last weekend when co-founder and CEO Sam Altman was abruptly fired on Friday. As a changing script, I’ve had to update and rewrite this newsletter several times to keep up with the changes in the ChatGPT creator.
Replacing Altman was first-time CTO Mira Murati, who was then replaced by former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear to become OpenAI’s second interim CEO. Microsoft—an OpenAI investor that reportedly was furious beyond Altman’s departure—gave Altman and former OpenAI President Greg Brockman, who resigned, jobs to lead the new AI research division. Microsoft is already seeing some wins from all of this.
As for OpenAI employees, 95% of OpenAI employees signed an open letter calling for the resignation of the board or they will resign. Collective action, however, has foreign work visa holders jeopardizing their residency status.
Forbes has reported the twists and turns of this unfolding story. If you prefer to get your news in video form, Editor-in-Chief Alex Konrad recaps it here.
As always, read on for more workplace news and career advice. Have a nice week. If you are in the US, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a nice break from work. I will see you later!
WORK SMARTER
Practical knowledge and advice from Forbes contributors to help you succeed at work, accelerate your career and drive smarter
Holiday parties are coming. Networking doesn’t have to be painful. Try these tips.
Managers, you should show gratitude to your team all year long—not just at the end of the year.
Evidence and examples of your strengths help you get the job. Here are ways to create a successful job portfolio.
It’s performance review season. Be sure to optimize the process.
SPECIFIC HISTORY
America’s Largest Private Companies 2023
Elon Musk’s SpaceX, whiskey maker Fireball and nine other rocket newcomers to its ranks Forbes’ annual list of the largest private companies. Cargill comes in at No. 1 for the third year in a row. See the rest here.
TOUCH BASE
News from the world of work
Employers are trying to defuse the demographic time bomb by offering support and incentives such as flexible schedules and phased retirement.
getty
Thinking of retiring?: Demographics are changing in the workforce as Gen Xers begin to retire. Contributor Sander van’t Noordende examines what the talent shortage in the labor market means for workers and companies. For some, it means an incentive for older workers to stay.
OpenAI explores artificial intelligence in the classroom: In the OpenAI news before the CEO, the company he said will likely create a team next year to look exclusively at ways to use artificial intelligence in education – marking a new venture for the company that has been criticized by some educators as enabling cheating.
Auto Workers Ratify Agreements: Members of the United Auto Workers union working at Ford ratified a tentative contract Friday, shortly after workers at parent company Chrysler Stellantis and General Motors approved their agreements. The contracts follow a historic six-week strike earlier this fall by workers at the three major automakers.
Notion Launches AI “Q&A” Feature: Notion co-founder and CEO Ivan Zhao sees AI as an opportunity to turn his productivity app into a “magnet tool” for workers. Notion announced a key step in this evolution: a new chatbot called Q&A that can search for information from all documents and databases stored in a user’s Notion workspace. Ask the bot a question and it returns a response with links to the relevant pages where it extracted that information.
CHECK LIST
Add these books and videos to your to-do list
- In This videoUnited Wholesale Mortgage COO Melinda Wilner talks about the state of the housing market.
NUMBER TO NOTE
9 cents
That’s how much a loaf of bread cost when President Joe Biden was born.
Celebrating the president’s 81st birthday this week, Forbes compared the cost of basic groceries in 1942 to what they cost now. Biden’s advanced age has become a recurring theme throughout his presidency, particularly among his critics, and polls for his 2024 re-election campaign show it to be one of the biggest issues with voters.
QUIZ
Amid OpenAI’s schism that has more than 700 employees threatening to quit, its CEO which software company said he will hire and match the salary of any researcher who quits OpenAI?
- Microsoft
- Oracle
- UNDERMINE
- Salesforce
Check if you found it here.
