الكاتب: kafej

Just when he thought he was in, they pulled him back out.

Emmett Shear had an eventful weekend, appointed interim CEO at ChatGPT maker OpenAI after the sudden and dramatic ousting of Sam Altman last Friday.

It was his first day job since leaving streaming site Twitch in March, a company he ran for over a decade.

A self-anointed AI “doomer” who thinks development of the technology should be slowed down, he didn’t seem an obvious choice. And his hiring drew attention to his prolific social media posts on controversial topics.

But now, after five days of open revolt among OpenAI staff, Mr Altman is set to return as CEO.

Here’s everything we know about his short-lived successor, soon-to-be predecessor, in the role.

Getting started

Growing up in Seattle, it was at school that Mr Shear met Justin Kan.

They bonded over maths and trading card game Magic: The Gathering, and attended Yale University together. They also secured funding for their first tech project – a calendar app called Kiko.

That funding came from Y Combinator, a start-up accelerator company which lists the likes of Airbnb among the internet firms it’s helped establish. For a spell in the 2010s, Mr Altman was its president.

But it was Twitch’s predecessor, Justin.tv, that paved the way for Mr Shear’s success.

What started as a 24/7 live video feed of Mr Kan’s life became a public platform for anyone to stream video online, attracting more than 30 million users a month at its peak.

But few topics were as popular as gaming.

Launch Twitch, get rich

To take advantage, Justin.tv launched Twitch as a spin-off platform.

It would become the go-to platform for gamers to showcase their Fortnite kills and FIFA goals to a live audience.

Twitch became so popular, with millions of people streaming their gameplay and tens of millions more tuning in, Amazon bought it for just shy of $1bn in 2014.

It birthed a new class of celebrity, including stars like Ninja. In a sign of how lucrative game streaming has become, Microsoft was reportedly willing to pay up to $30m to convince him to join its own Twitch rival in 2019.

The price Amazon paid in 2014 now looks relatively modest, and Mr Shear’s 12-year stint as CEO reportedly took his net worth well into the hundreds of millions.

In his LinkedIn recommendation, Twitch co-founder Mr Kan describes his old friend as someone who “works hard, doesn’t complain, and the smartest guy I know”.

Mr Shear’s tenure wasn’t without controversy, however.

He faced criticism for his handling of sexual abuse claims made against some streamers, and in 2020 apologised to those who felt his response had been “dismissive”.

That same year, he also apologised to streamers hit by takedown orders – mainly from the music industry – which forced them offline for using copyrighted material during their broadcasts.

He resigned in March 2023, saying he wanted to spend more time with his newborn son. But since then he’s been a part-time partner at Y Combinator.

AI ‘doomer’ and controversial social media posts

Besides working with Y Combinator and spending time with his son, Mr Shear has been a prolific poster on X (formerly known as Twitter) since calling quits on his Twitch career.

He’s posted more than 10,000 times over the past year, engaging in conversations about tech and societal issues like AI, as well as making controversial comments.

In one post in August, Mr Shear wrote “between 40-60% of women seem to have rape/non-consent fantasies”.

In June, he joined a conversation about a hypothetical situation in which either “the worst people you know” rule the world or a 50/50 coin toss determines whether everyone dies.

“The Nazis were very evil, but I’d rather the actual literal Nazis take over the world forever than flip a coin on the end of all value,” he said.

He’s also posted about how men are “more willing to have casual sex”, and joked about using AI to write chat-up lines.

Sky News contacted Mr Shear for comment about his X posts, but has not received a response.

On AI, he said in September he’s “in favour of slowing down” development.

“If we’re at a speed of 10 right now, a pause is reducing to 0. I think we should aim for a 1-2 instead,” he posted.

Two months prior, he said “there’s a chance” that general artificial intelligence – a super-powerful AI capable of outperforming humans at a variety of tasks – could be “catastrophically dangerous”.

Developing such an AI has been the stated goal of Mr Altman.

Mr Shear has insisted he is a “techno-optimist” and denied accusations of “primitivism”, but in August compared artificial general intelligence to “a pit trap with spikes we have to avoid”.

Following his appointment at OpenAI, he said the issue of safety was vital to his new role.

“I took this job because I believe OpenAI is one of the most important companies currently in existence,” he added.

Read more:
How the chaos at OpenAI unfolded

Why he was chosen – and why he’s already heading out

Mr Shear, 40, won’t have been preparing for the OpenAI gig, saying he joined “rapidly and unexpectedly”.

With staff and major investor Microsoft blindsided by Mr Altman’s departure, Mr Shear acknowledged “it’s clear the process and communications” around the sacking was “handled very badly”.

He’d pledged to hire an “independent investigator” to find out what happened and restore trust.

For the board members who hired the safety-conscious Mr Shear, the appeal appeared to be steering OpenAI back towards its original non-profit remit as a research-focused organisation.

Since the launch of ChatGPT last November, Mr Altman had not been shy of looking to maximise the company’s commercial potential – inviting third parties to leverage GPT tech in their own products, and reportedly holding discussions with ex-Apple designer Jony Ive to build the “iPhone of AI”.

With Mr Altman now heading back to OpenAI, we may never know the real reason behind his departure.

What’s clear is that it did not go down well – and his return coincides with the appointment of a new board, replacing those who fired him.

Mr Shear has said he is “deeply pleased” by the outcome after “72 very intense hours of work”.

He posted on X: “Coming into OpenAI, I wasn’t sure what the right path would be. This was the pathway that maximised safety alongside doing right by all stakeholders involved.

“I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.”

French cheesemakers are furious about a new EU recycling rule which could see the traditional round wooden boxes used to encase Camembert cheese replaced with plastic.

The European Parliament is set to vote on the proposed new regulation which will state that by 2030 all food packaging must be recyclable.

Jean-Paul Garraud, a member of the European Parliament for France’s far-right Rassemblement National, said: “It is a matter of common sense. Don’t touch our Camemberts!”

Some French producers fear the language of the proposal would mean the cheese – which takes its name from a village in Normandy and dates back to the 18th century – would no longer be encased in wooden boxes.

“Plastic heats up the cheese, and alters the product over the long term,” one producer told French broadcaster BFM TV.

The box packaging represents 2,000 jobs in France and 45 firms would be affected, Claire Lacroix, chief executive of the Lacroix Group which manufacturers 200 million boxes per year, told TF1info.

Many people have protested against the proposal, calling it a matter of national pride for France.

French MEP Laurence Sailliet said: “Our French cheeses are loved all over the world. But who can imagine a Camembert or a Mont d’Or without its wooden strapping? Packaging them in plastic would be a gustatory and environmental aberration.

“Europe must know how to protect the environment, but never to the detriment of the specific characteristics of its member states,” she added.

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Even if the boxes are not banned under the rules, they would be subject to new recycling and reuse regulations that could make them costly.

Stephanie Yon-Courtin, an MEP originally from Normandy, said wooden boxes used to package cheeses like Camembert don’t have a dedicated recycling circuit because it would be too costly.

She is part of the centrist Renew Europe group in parliament which has tabled an amendment to exempt wooden packaging from the proposed recycling regulations.

Virginijus Sinkevicius, European commissioner for the environment, said on Tuesday the EU would make sure the raw-milk specialised non-industrial Camemberts – those that have a controlled designation of origin – will be exempt from any regulation.

The vote on Wednesday will include such an exemption.

“Indeed, in the EU, certain food packaging made of wood, textiles, ceramics are placed on the market in very small quantities, and many of them protected by the food quality legislation,” he said.

“Such packaging may have difficulties to be recycled at scale and is open for specific exemptions.”

South Korea has suspended part of a military agreement after North Korea defied warnings to launch a spy satellite into space.

The move means South Korea will step up surveillance along the fortified northern border, negating a clause laid out in a 2018 pact between the nations.

Images published in North Korean state media on Tuesday – which Sky News has not verified – showed what appeared to be leader Kim Jong Un watching a rocket launch from a base.

According to KCNA news agency, Mr Kim was later briefed on the satellite’s operations and viewed pictures taken above the US territory of Guam in the Pacific.

He emphasised the need for more satellites on different orbits to give his forces “abundant valuable real-time information about the enemy and further promote their responsive posture”, the agency added.

After adjustments, its reconnaissance mission is due to start on 1 December.

The satellite has entered orbit, according to South Korea’s military, but it’s too soon to evaluate how successful it has been.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is in the UK on a state visit, approved the suspension of the pact, known as the Comprehensive Military Agreement, which was designed to de-escalate tensions.

Critics have argued the agreement had only weakened South Korea’s ability to monitor the northern border – while North Korea had violated the agreement.

US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson described the launch as “a brazen violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions”.

China, North Korea’s closest ally, called on all parties to ensure peace and stability.

The Malligyong-1 satellite was launched from the Sohae satellite launch facility at 10.42pm (1.42pm UK time) on Tuesday and entered orbit at 10.54pm, KCNA said.

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North Korea had notified Japan of a satellite launch after two failed attempts earlier this year.

It was also the first launch since Mr Kim met Vladimir Putin at a Russian space facility in September, where the Russian president promised to help North Korea build satellites.

South Korean officials said the launch most likely involved Russian technical assistance, but some missile experts argued it is too soon for Russian help to have been fully incorporated.

Seoul plans to restart aerial surveillance of North Korea after Pyongyang claimed launching a spy satellite into orbit.

South Korea has announced its intention to partially suspend an inter-Korean agreement after North Korea claimed it successfully launched a military spy satellite into orbit.

South Korea’s State Council responded to the satellite launch by approving the temporary measure and preparing to restart front-line aerial surveillance of the North, Seoul officials said on Wednesday.

The North’s latest satellite launch was a clear violation of UN resolutions and “a grave provocation that threatens our national security”, said Heo Tae-keun, South Korea’s deputy minister of national defence policy.

He added that based on the solid military alliance with the US, South Korea will “promptly and strongly punish” North Korea if it uses the South Korean step as a pretext to launch another provocation.

The 2018 agreement, which created buffer and no-fly zones along the heavily fortified border between the two countries, also required the two neighbours to halt front-line aerial reconnaissance of each other and live-firing exercises and remove some of their guard posts and landmines at border areas.

Orbit of tension

Officials in South Korea and Japan, which first reported the launch, said they could not immediately verify whether a satellite was placed in orbit.

North Korea had previously notified Japan that it planned to launch a satellite between November 22 and December 1.

The Pentagon said it was “still assessing the success of the launch”.

A day after the satellite launch, however, the North Korean government released images of leader Kim Jong Un viewing photographs of key US military facilities allegedly taken by the satellite.

North Korea had tried to launch what it called spy satellites twice this year but failed. South Korean officials said in recent days that it appeared ready to try again soon.

The South Korean reaction further escalates the atmosphere of already compounding tensions. The North insists on its “sovereign right” to develop satellites and build up its capabilities against the armies of the US and its allies.

These military exploits from the North, however, are hindered by UN sanctions as international observers see these repeated satellite endeavours as furtive attempts to advance nuclear-capable missile technology.

Japan, South Korea and the United States conduct regular military drills aimed at countering North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal. The allies strongly condemned North Korea for the “brazen violation” of UN resolutions.

The launch “raises tensions and risks destabilising the security situation in the region and beyond”, US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

China urged all parties on Wednesday to remain “calm and restrained”.

“All parties concerned should remain calm and restrained, look squarely at the crux of the problem, adhere to the general direction of a political settlement, and do more to help ease tensions,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said.

The AI research firm is restoring Altman as CEO after his sacking last week threatened a mass exodus from the company.

The co-founder of a leading US artificial intelligence firm is making a comeback to the company that terminated him as CEO last week, the latest twist in a week-long drama over its leadership.

OpenAI, which owns the popular chatbot ChatGPT, announced late on Tuesday on the social media platform X that it had reached “an agreement in principle” to bring back tech entrepreneur Sam Altman as CEO.

We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo.

We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this.

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) November 22, 2023

It also said it had reached a consensus on a “new initial board,” with members including former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo.

Altman wrote on X he was “looking forward to returning to OpenAI, and building on our strong partnership with (Microsoft)”.

i love openai, and everything i’ve done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together. when i decided to join msft on sun evening, it was clear that was the best path for me and the team. with the new board and w satya’s support, i’m…

— Sam Altman (@sama) November 22, 2023

Internal turmoil

OpenAI’s board sacked Altman last week offering few reasons for the decision. A storm soon broke within the company. Hundreds of staff threatened to quit in solidarity with Altman and investors put pressure on the company to restore calm.

Microsoft, which has invested billions in OpenAI and has rights to its technology, announced it would hire Atlman to run a new artificial intelligence research team and welcomed any defecting OpenAI employees to switch over with him.

However, Altman said that he has the support of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to return as OpenAI’s CEO under a new leadership structure.

Nadella welcomed the changes to OpenAI after the firm announced Altman’s return and the new initial board.

“We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance,” Nadella wrote on X.

We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board. We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance. Sam, Greg, and I have talked and agreed they have a key role to play along with the OAI leadership team in ensuring… https://t.co/djO6Fuz6t9

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 22, 2023

OpenAI’s flagship product is ChatGPT, an advanced language model-based chatbot that can generate articles, essays, jokes and even poetry in response to prompts.

Released to the public in November 2022, ChatGPT quickly gained global appeal, reaching more than 100 million monthly users in less than a year.