Month: November 2023

Enlarge / Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, during a hearing on AI held by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)

After firing CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI's board of directors reached out to the CEO of its rival, Anthropic, to propose a merger, but the proposal was quickly rejected, according to news reports. The board approached Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei "about a potential merger of the two companies" as "part of an effort by OpenAI to persuade Amodei to replace Altman as CEO," The Information reported yesterday, citing "a person with direct knowledge" of the contact.

"It's not clear whether the merger proposal led to any serious discussion. Amodei quickly turned down the CEO offer due to his position at Anthropic," The Information wrote.

The report was subsequently confirmed by Reuters. "OpenAI's board of directors approached rival Anthropic's CEO about replacing chief Sam Altman and potentially merging the two AI startups, according to two people briefed on the matter," Reuters wrote. "Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei declined on both fronts, the people said."

Enlarge (credit: NurPhoto / Contributor | NurPhoto)

On Monday, Elon Musk followed through with his promise to sue Media Matters over reporting that helped spark the latest advertiser backlash against antisemitic content posted on Musk's X (formerly Twitter).

Musk's complaint—bizarrely filed in a Texas court despite X Corp. being based in California and Media Matters in the District of Columbia—accused Media Matters of interference with X Corp.'s contract with advertisers, business disparagement, and interference with a prospective economic advantage by allegedly disrupting X Corp.'s relationship with advertisers.

The lawsuit's business disparagement claim marks the first time that Musk has sued a group monitoring hate speech on X for defaming the platform. Where individuals can sue for defamation, businesses can sue over disparagement. In this case, Musk must prove that Media Matters knowingly published false statements intended to harm X Corp.'s business to succeed in his lawsuit.

Enlarge / Hyundai's latest factory eschews the production line for cells. (credit: Hyundai)

SINGAPORE—The Hyundai Motor Group seems to have figured it out. While other automakers are pulling back on EVs, the Korean automaker continues to introduce EVs that people like and are purchasing.

It's not rocket science that if you offer good EVs at relatively reasonable prices, the sales will follow. Or maybe it is; I don't want to pretend I understand the mind of an automotive CEO.

As HMG gears up for additional models in its lineup and falls for the allure of increased EV sales, it's building additional facilities, including the Georgia Metaplant that Hyundai is rushing to start production in 2024. Once at peak production, Hyundai says it will spit out about half a million EVs a year.