This week over the airwaves was a huge win for equity in all sectors. Headliners such as Bill Gates and Sam Altman stole the show with big announcements regarding their respective organizations. The Gates Foundation, best known for its deep pocketed philanthropic ventures, has just announced their plans to drive the future. At the same time, OpenAI is getting ready for changes to appease regulators and investors. On top of the questionable valuation, sudden leadership changes at Instacart and 11x increased the level of concern among VCs and techies around the world.
On his blog, Bill Gates declared that the Gates Foundation has 20 years to spend its expected $107 billion fortune. The foundation would then shutter its operations. His promise that he would eventually give away 99% of his wealth underscores a passion for solving the world’s toughest problems through philanthropy. This decision represents an important strategic turn for the foundation. Its mission has shifted to making the biggest possible positive dent and negative impact before it closes forever.
At the same time, OpenAI’s new CEO Sam Altman has rolled out a major corporate restructuring plan designed to placate both regulators and investors. This move comes at a time of increasing criticism of AI technologies and their impacts. Altman stated that a new member will assist OpenAI in scaling “traditional” company functions, further indicating the organization’s commitment to operational efficiency.
OpenAI is working on the ground with civic leaders in Delaware and California. This kind of engagement helps to foster a constructive dialogue on its practices and responsibilities.
“after hearing from civic leaders and engaging in constructive dialogue with the offices of the Attorney General of Delaware and the Attorney General of California.” – OpenAI
Meta just dropped a major surprise at the NewFronts confab. They’re running a trial for video ads on Threads, their new social media line extension. As the platform matures, industry observers are excited about discovering what amazing possibilities the future holds.
“It’s an open question as to what AI ad testing will do to Meta’s platforms from a user experience point of view, considering they’re already brimming with generative AI slop.” – Maxwell Zeff
Instacart went through some dramatic leadership shifts, with a top-to-bottom turnover at the CEO level. The specifics around this move are still few and far between, but it’s a clear sign of continued evolution in the grocery delivery industry.
The transpo tech company 11x has also recently announced a substantial bout of leadership shake-up. Hasan Sukkar will resign as CEO and assume position of non-executive chairman. Sukkar confirmed his decision during a company meeting, noting that this transition allows for new perspectives and strategies going forward.
In a controversial turn of events, 11x faced backlash after displaying customer logos of companies that were not active customers on its website. One company wasn’t pleased about it, threatening legal action in this contentious issue that was first reported by TechCrunch all the way back in March. This incident sheds light on the greater need for transparency and ethical marketing practices within the industry.
In happier news, TechCrunch has a story about a new cooking robot called Posha that wants to change the way you make your meals. The optimism behind new innovations such as Posha is palpable. That’s certain to be among the burning questions at our TC Sessions AI event in Berkeley, California, on June 5.
Karyne Levy, deputy managing editor of TechCrunch, has been at the forefront telling the story of these dramatic changes as they happened.
