Bloomberg has learned that OpenAI's board hired former Twitch chief executive officer Emmett Shear to lead the company, defying calls from investors to reinstate Sam Altman.

San Francisco

The release of Open AI's ChatGPT has accelerated the development of artificial intelligence and warnings about its impact on society.

Rise of AI

OpenAI taps ex-Twitch CEO Shear to succeed Altman

Talk to us about what this appointment would mean from the board. Why Emmet Scheer. Well this is all very fast change. So Emmet Scheer this announcement came through at least the reporting came through from our team on the ground in San Francisco about 30 minutes ago. And this was after overnight as you were saying we were looking at these negotiations between the board and Sam Altman someone was actually in the offices of open AI over the weekend. So now as you say we have the news that Emmet Scheer formerly the CEO of Twitch up until the early part of this year has been appointed as the CEO. It's quite the dramatic turnaround given that we were reporting on the fact that the board and Sam Altman were negotiating over potentially his return. Emmet Scheer. We know that he co-founded Justin TV a video platform. And then of course the CEO of Twitch is also a partner at least a part time partner at the VC firm Y Combinator. So look brave man in terms of taking on this appointment we'll see how long it lasts because we know of course that the tensions exist between the existing investors and many within open AI as well who are still lobbying for Sam Altman to come back in some form. Well I think what's interesting is that even though there are all these kind of fluctuations to the story we still don't actually know what the initial falling out was actually about at a time when even Satya Nadella the CEO of Microsoft had to get involved. Absolutely. He was taken by surprise. Our reporting saying the Satya Nadella of Microsoft of course was stunned by this announcement that came through on Friday particularly as it came through just days after the development summit led by open AI Satya Satya Nadella was on the stage there with Sam Altman. What the reporting seems to suggest is it's a combination of factors. One is a concern about the risks and just how quickly this technology was being developed at open AI. We know that Sam Altman was driving the commercialization of this project. And the other was also about it seems some of the other business projects that someone was building up in terms of trying to raise funding for chips around AI. He wanted to start up a business on that front and also possibly as well reporting around working with Johnny Ives formerly chief designer at Apple to come out with some kind of hardware project. So we know someone was making the rounds globally to try and raise funds for additional projects. But also at the heart of this seems to be this question about how quickly some of these projects were being pushed through and commercialized at open AI which don't forget was founded as a nonprofit. Yeah. And that tension as well exists as a result of the legacy of a board that was appointed around a nonprofit that has this kind of commercial arm tied onto it. Well now the commercial on this course has become increasingly important. And that tension it seems is central to what is unfolding right now at open AI.

The federal government is set to unveil a major new migration strategy tomorrow that aims to dramatically cut Australia's intake.

Canberra

Government plans to 'drastically cut' migration

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday approved two gene therapies for sickle cell disease, making one of them the first treatment in the United States based on the Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR gene editing technology.

Maryland

US approves two gene therapies for sickle cell disease

Israel bombing of the Gaza Strip has intensified in an expanded phase of its war against Hamas. This is after the United States wielded its U.N. Security Council veto to shield its ally from a global demand for a ceasefire.

Jerusalem

Israel-Gaza War

Intensified fighting in Gaza as U.S. vetoes ceasefire

EU lawmakers and policymakers have reached a deal on rules regulating the use of artificial intelligence, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on the X social platform.

Brussels

EU reaches landmark deal to regulate AI threat

The U.S. has vetoed an emergency resolution at the UN security council — triggered by the secretary-general with a rarely-used power to force a vote — for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to allow more aid into the area.

New York

United States vetoes UN vote on immediate Gaza ceasefire

Israel's military says it has struck 450 targets in Gaza over the past 24 hours, roughly double the figure it's typically reported since the end of the truce with Hamas. It marks a new expansion of the war.

Sderot

Israel ramps up airstrikes on Gaza targets amid new phase

Russians and Belarusians who qualify in their sport for the Paris 2024 Olympics can take part as neutrals without flags, emblems or anthems at the event next year, the International Olympic Committee has ruled.

Paris

IOC rules Russian athletes can compete at Paris Olympics

Cyclone preparations are underway in north Queensland. Communities in North Queensland are bracing for Category Four Jasper to approach mainland Queensland by mid-next week.

Townsville City

North Queensland braces for Category Four cyclone

The Hamas-run health ministry reported 40 dead in strikes near Gaza City on Friday, and dozens more in Jabalia and the main southern city of Khan Yunis. So far, the fighting in the Palestinian enclave has left 17,487 people dead, according to the ministry's latest published figures. 

Hamas health ministry says over 17,000 dead in Gaza

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday told soldiers who had fought in Ukraine that he would run for the top job again in the 2024 election - a move that will allow the former KGB spy to stay in power until at least 2030. 

Moscow

Ukraine Invasion

Russia's Putin tells soldiers he will run for president again

Ahead of a U.N. Security Council vote on a resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in his strongest public criticism of Israel's conduct of the war on Hamas in south Gaza, said there was a gap between the government's declared intentions to protect civilians and the casualties.

Washington

U.S criticizes Israel over Gaza civilian toll

2023 has been declared the hottest year in recorded history a month earlier than scientists would usually confirm the evidence. Temperatures are now nudging one and a half degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels, giving the UN climate talks in Dubai a heightened sense of priority.

Council of the City of Sydney

Climate Crisis

Scientists confirm 2023 is the hottest year on record

The Department of Justice filed new criminal charges against U.S. President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, indicting him for allegedly failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes while spending millions of dollars on a lavish lifestyle. 

Delaware

Hunter Biden hit with new charges for tax evasion

Two months since the initial Hamas attack on southern Israel, doctors in Gaza are treating many times the number of patients they are equipped to handle, and a UN official says there is no safe place for humanitarian operations to continue.

Israel pushes deeper south as war with Hamas passes 2 months

Emergency authorities are on alert as severe Tropical Cyclone Jasper intensifies in the Coral Sea. The category four system is continuing its gradual march towards the North Queensland coast, but its exact path remains uncertain.

Tropical Cyclone Jasper strengthens off Queensland coast

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan visited Greece and met with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday. The two leaders agreed to reboot their relations, establishing a roadmap designed to usher in a new era of closer ties between the two NATO allies but historical foes. 

Athens

Historic foes Greece and Turkey agree to turn page

Italy has officially informed China that it is leaving the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), dismissing fears the decision could sour relations and damage the Italian economy, government sources said. 

Rome

Italy to leave China's Belt and Road Initiative

Legislation that would provide new security assistance for Ukraine and Israel was blocked in the U.S. Senate as Republicans demanded tougher measures to control immigration at the U.S. border with Mexico. 

Ukraine aid bill blocked in U.S Senate

Ukraine is having trouble getting other economic and humanitarian assistance delivered as aid from the U.S. is stalled in Congress. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is shoring up support from his allies in the Middle East.

Riyadh

Putin visits Middle East as Ukraine's foreign aid dwindles

The UN secretary general Antonio Guterres has invoked his most powerful diplomatic tool to try to stop the killing of Palestinians in Gaza. In the letter, Guterres calls for the Security Council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and appeals for a ceasefire to be declared in Gaza.



UN chief invokes article 99 on Gaza in rare move

Israeli forces declare a disputed safe zone along Gaza's southern coast, lacking humanitarian aid and raising concerns.

Palestinians flee to Al Mawasi as Israel expands offensive

Another man who was recently released from immigration detention has been charged by police. His capture in Melbourne comes as Federal Parliament is on the brink of passing laws to have some former detainees put back behind bars.

Detainee released after High Court ruling arrested

The first survivor has been pulled out alive after last Friday's landslide in Zambia that flooded a copper mine. It trapped at least 25 people who were working there. The rescue mission for the others continues.

Lusaka

First survivor pulled out of Zambia mine after landslide

Members of the Iranian security forces raped and used other forms of sexual violence against women and men detained in the crackdown on nationwide protests that erupted from September 2022, Amnesty International said Wednesday. 

Tehran

Report reveals detained protesters in Iran raped, assaulted

Several Republican senators walked out of a classified briefing on Ukraine as it descended into a row over the border crisis, after President Volodymyr Zelensky unexpectedly canceled a video link appearance to appeal for continued US funding. 

Kyiv

Zelensky cancels U.S Senate briefing amid funding row

Israeli ground forces are heading south toward the city of Khan Younis as the hospital system in the area is collapsing. Red Cross officials paid a visit to Gaza and called for de-escalation in the Israel-Hamas war.

Israeli ground forces enter Gaza's Khan Younis

The US Department of State has said that it will impose visa restrictions on Israeli settlers involved in undermining peace, security or stability in the occupied West Bank. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the move on Tuesday.

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Rise of AI