Latest news with #IlyaSutskever
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta Fails to Buy $32B AI Firm, Hires CEO Instead in Aggressive Talent Grab
June 20 - Meta (NASDAQ:META) is set to bring on Daniel Gross,the CEO of AI startup Safe Superintelligence, following a failed effort to acquire the company earlier this year. The startup, co-founded by OpenAI veteran Ilya Sutskever, had reportedly turned down a takeover bid from Meta despite being valued near $32 billion in a recent funding round. Sources familiar with the matter said Sutskever also declined an individual offer to join Meta. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Sign with META. Instead, Meta is now hiring Gross along with former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. The pair co-run NFDG, a venture firm that Meta will take a stake in as part of the hiring arrangement. Both will report to Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang, whom Meta onboarded last week through a separate $14.3 billion investment. The moves come as Meta accelerates efforts to build advanced AI systems and compete more directly with rivals like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). A Meta spokesperson said the company will provide further details on its superintelligence plans in the coming weeks. Gross previously led Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) machine learning efforts after selling his search engine startup Cue. Friedman served as GitHub's CEO following its acquisition by Microsoft. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Meta Fails to Buy $32B AI Firm, Hires CEO Instead in Aggressive Talent Grab
June 20 - Meta (NASDAQ:META) is set to bring on Daniel Gross,the CEO of AI startup Safe Superintelligence, following a failed effort to acquire the company earlier this year. The startup, co-founded by OpenAI veteran Ilya Sutskever, had reportedly turned down a takeover bid from Meta despite being valued near $32 billion in a recent funding round. Sources familiar with the matter said Sutskever also declined an individual offer to join Meta. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Sign with META. Instead, Meta is now hiring Gross along with former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman. The pair co-run NFDG, a venture firm that Meta will take a stake in as part of the hiring arrangement. Both will report to Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang, whom Meta onboarded last week through a separate $14.3 billion investment. The moves come as Meta accelerates efforts to build advanced AI systems and compete more directly with rivals like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). A Meta spokesperson said the company will provide further details on its superintelligence plans in the coming weeks. Gross previously led Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) machine learning efforts after selling his search engine startup Cue. Friedman served as GitHub's CEO following its acquisition by Microsoft. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNBC
7 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
CNBC Daily Open: Intensifying Israel-Iran conflict puts investors on shaky ground
The conflict between Israel and Iran is intensifying, with both countries not backing down from strikes and their leaders continuing to issue heated rhetoric. The prospect of the United States potentially joining the fray — which Russia warned would cause "a terrible spiral of escalation" — is putting the world on a knife's edge. That unease is reflected in the markets. While U.S. exchanges were closed Thursday for a holiday, futures retreated in the evening local time. Across the Atlantic, travel and leisure stocks suffered the most as the Middle East conflict cast a shadow over international aviation. At the Paris Air Show, however, aircraft manufacturers are still booking billions in orders. Airbus had secured more than $20 billion in deals as of Thursday, according to Reuters calculations. That said, those encouraging numbers may not reflect immediate optimism about the global economy or geopolitics — aircrafts take years to deliver, and both Airbus and Boeing have a backlog of more than 8,000 and 5,000 aircrafts respectively. Until investors get a clearer sense of whether the U.S. will launch strikes on Iran, markets aren't likely to find solid ground.U.S. futures slip after trading reopensU.S. futures slipped Thursday evening stateside. Regular trading in the U.S. was closed for the Juneteenth holiday. While, oil prices for both U.S. crude oil rose, international benchmark Brent fell nearly 3%. Asia-Pacific markets rose Friday. China's CSI 300 added 0.26% at 1:30 p.m. Singapore time, as the country's central bank kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged. Meta tried to buy OpenAI co-founder's startupEarlier this year, Meta tried to acquire Safe Superintelligence, the artificial intelligence startup launched by OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, according to sources familiar with the matter. Sutskever turned down Meta and its attempt to hire him, the sources said. But Daniel Gross, the startup's CEO, and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman will join Meta as part of Mark Zuckerberg's deal with NFDG, a venture capital firm both men run. Inflation in Japan highest in two yearsRice prices in Japan more than doubled in May, spiking 101.7% year over year and marking their largest increase in over half a century. The surge in rice prices comes as Japan's annual core inflation rate, which excludes fresh food costs, climbed to 3.7% in May, the highest since January 2023 and more than the 3.6% expected by economists polled by Reuters. Labubu-maker's shares slumpHong Kong-listed shares of Pop Mart, the toymaker behind the smash hit Labubu, continued to tumble Friday. Pop Mart first gained popularity with its "blind box" concept, a business model criticized by People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper, on Friday. Morgan Stanley said in a note late Wednesday it was replacing Pop Mart with insurance company PICC P&C in the firm's China and Hong Kong focus list. Airbus stole the show in ParisAirbus dominated the order books at the Paris Air Show. The European aircraft manufacturer had racked up nearly $21 billion of orders as of Thursday morning, per a Reuters calculation. That included 132 firm orders on Monday, from customers including Saudi leasing firm AviLease, Japan's ANA and Poland's LOT, versus 41 for Boeing and 15 for Brazil's Embraer, according to a tally by aviation advisory IBA. [PRO] Berkshire stocks drop without BuffettWarren Buffett once predicted that Berkshire Hathaway stock would rise when he eventually steps down. So far, the opposite has happened. Since May 3, when the "Oracle of Omaha" announced his plans to hand over the reins, Berkshire stock has lost more than 10%, underperforming the S&P 500 by about 15 percentage points. Some think it could fall even more. Is India's hot IPO market cooling, or is it a blip? Twelve months ago, India's initial public offering market was booming, with tech startups from food and grocery delivery player Swiggy to electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ola Electric at the cusp of their debut. This year, however, there has been a pronounced change. There have been just 99 listings so far, down from 147 in the same period a year ago, according to FactSet data. Several companies have put their listing plans on hold given weak investor sentiment and the bleak macroeconomic outlook, despite having received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
CNBC
12 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
CNBC Daily Open: Uncertainty around Israel-Iran conflict put investors on edge
The conflict between Israel and Iran is intensifying, with both countries not backing down from strikes and their leaders continuing to issue heated rhetoric. The prospect of the United States potentially joining the fray — which Russia warned would cause "a terrible spiral of escalation" — is putting the world on a knife's edge. That unease is reflected in the markets. While U.S. exchanges were closed Thursday for a holiday, futures retreated in the evening local time and oil prices jumped during the U.S. trading session. Across the Atlantic, travel and leisure stocks suffered the most as the Middle East conflict cast a shadow over international aviation. At the Paris Air Show, however, aircraft manufacturers are still booking billions in orders. Airbus had secured more than $20 billion in deals as of Thursday, according to Reuters calculations. That said, those encouraging numbers may not reflect immediate optimism about the global economy or geopolitics — aircrafts take years to deliver, and both Airbus and Boeing have a backlog of more than 8,000 and 5,000 aircrafts respectively. Until investors get a clearer sense of whether the U.S. will launch strikes on Iran, markets aren't likely to find solid ground.U.S. futures slip and oil jumpsU.S. futures slipped Thursday evening stateside. Regular trading in the U.S. was closed for the Juneteenth holiday. Meanwhile, oil prices for both U.S. crude oil and international benchmark Brent rose roughly 3% during the U.S. trading session after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to intensify attacks on Iran. Europe's regional Stoxx 600 lost 0.83%, with travel and leisure stocks falling the most. Meta tried to buy OpenAI co-founder's startupEarlier this year, Meta tried to acquire Safe Superintelligence, the artificial intelligence startup launched by OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, according to sources familiar with the matter. Sutskever turned down Meta and its attempt to hire him, the sources said. But Daniel Gross, the startup's CEO, and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman will join Meta as part of Mark Zuckerberg's deal with NFDG, a venture capital firm both men run. Inflation in Japan at its highest in two yearsJapan's core inflation rate climbed to 3.7% in May, the highest since January 2023. The figure, which excludes fresh food costs, was higher than the 3.6% expected by economists polled by Reuters, and April's reading of 3.5%. The Bank of Japan bank held rates at 0.5% after its monetary policy meeting earlier this week. Separately, Japan's GDP shrank 0.2% quarter on quarter in the three months ended March. Airbus stole the show in ParisAirbus dominated the order books at the Paris Air Show. The European aircraft manufacturer had racked up nearly $21 billion of orders as of Thursday morning, per a Reuters calculation. That included 132 firm orders on Monday, from customers including Saudi leasing firm AviLease, Japan's ANA and Poland's LOT, versus 41 for Boeing and 15 for Brazil's Embraer, according to a tally by aviation advisory IBA. Bank of England holds interest ratesThe Bank of England kept its key interest rate on hold at 4.25% during its Thursday meeting, with economists expecting the central bank to wait until August before it cuts again. Six out of nine of the BOE's monetary policy committee opted to hold rates with three opting for a 25-basis-points cut. "Monetary policy is not on a pre-set path," the BOE said in a likely signal to markets and investors to moderate rate cut expectations. [PRO] Berkshire stocks drop without BuffettWarren Buffett once predicted that Berkshire Hathaway stock would rise when he eventually steps down. So far, the opposite has happened. Since May 3, when the "Oracle of Omaha" announced his plans to hand over the reins, Berkshire stock has lost more than 10%, underperforming the S&P 500 by about 15 percentage points. Some think it could fall even more. AI avatars in China just proved they are better influencers. It only took a duo 7 hours to rake in more than $7 million Avatars generated by artificial intelligence are now able to sell more than real people can, according to a collaboration between Chinese tech company Baidu and a popular livestreamer. Luo Yonghao, one of China's earliest and most popular livestreamers, and his co-host Xiao Mu both used digital versions of themselves to interact with viewers in real time for well over six hours on Sunday on Baidu's e-commerce livestreaming platform "Youxuan", the Chinese tech company said. The session raked in 55 million yuan ($7.65 million). In comparison, Luo's first livestream attempt on Youxuan last month, which lasted just over four hours, saw fewer orders for consumer electronics, food and other key products, Baidu said.
India Today
10-06-2025
- Business
- India Today
OpenAI co-founder says AI will do everything humans can and here is what students can do
AI may be far from perfect today, but one of its original architects believes the technology is marching toward a future where it can do everything humans can – and possibly more. Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and former chief scientist at OpenAI, used his convocation address at the University of Toronto to reflect on the progress of artificial intelligence and the scale of transformation it could bring. "The real challenge with AI is that it is really unprecedented and really extreme, and it's going to be very different in the future compared to the way it is today," he told the graduating class on June acknowledging that today's AI models are better than humans at some things and worse at many others, Sutskever said it is only a matter of time before that balance shifts. "AI will keep getting better and the day will come when AI will do all the things that we can do," he confidence comes from a simple analogy: "We have a brain, the brain is a biological computer, so why can't a digital computer, a digital brain, do the same things? This is the one-sentence summary for why AI will be able to do all those things," he said. Sutskever called AI's current capabilities "evocative". He says, AI right now is strong enough to suggest vast possibilities, but still not close to reaching its full potential. He suggested that a true breakthrough into superintelligence is more a matter of when than if. "Three, five, maybe ten years" was his rough comes next, he admitted, raises dramatic questions: what will humans do when machines can do it all?advertisementSutskever pointed to potential outcomes like faster scientific discovery, economic growth, and extreme automation, leading to a phase where "the rate of progress will become really extremely fast for some time at least."Still, he stressed that this AI-driven future is inescapable. Sutskever says: "Whether you like it or not, your life is going to be affected by AI to a great extent."The speech was not all about machines. Like most convocation speakers, Sutskever also offered advice to the graduating class. He encouraged them to embrace reality as it is, rather than dwell on past mistakes. "It's so easy to think, 'Oh, some bad past decision or bad stroke of luck, something happened, something is unfair,'" he said. "It's so easy to spend so much time thinking like this while it's just so much better and more productive to say, 'Okay, things are the way they are, what's the next best step?'"That advice carried extra weight given his own history. In late 2023, Sutskever played a key role in the surprise ousting of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. He was part of the board that claimed it had lost confidence in Altman's leadership. But just days later, Sutskever publicly expressed regret for his involvement. "I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions," he posted on X, adding, "I never intended to harm OpenAI." He later joined hundreds of OpenAI staff in calling for Altman's reinstatement. Altman returned as CEO within the week. Sutskever left the company six months later to start a new research lab focused on building what he called "safe superintelligence."advertisementReturning to his alma mater to accept an honorary doctorate, Sutskever framed this moment in history as exceptional – not just for those in AI, but for everyone. "We all live in the most unusual time ever," he said. "And this is something that people might say often, but I think it's actually true this time. And the reason it's true this time is because of AI." He noted that AI is already changing what it means to be a student, and its effect on work and daily life is just beginning to unfold in "unknown and unpredictable ways." Instead of digging into technical detail, Sutskever leaned on intuition. "Anything which I can learn, anything which any one of you can learn, the AI could do as well," he said. His message to graduates was both a warning and a call to action: The future may be uncertain, but it's coming fast, and AI will be at the centre of it.
