The Daily Index — Tuesday, November 21, 2023 · TLDR Index

Across today’s newsletters

Today’s Index

TLDR

MICROSOFT HIRES FORMER OPENAI CEO SAM ALTMAN

Microsoft has hired Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to lead its new advanced AI research team. Altman will be the CEO of this new group. The new team will include some key OpenAI talent. Former Twitch CEO and co-founder Emmett Shear has been named as interim CEO at OpenAI. Altman had been negotiating a return to OpenAI, but the company's board refused to step down and let him return. Microsoft still has a multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI and will remain committed to its partnership with the company.

theverge.com · 4 min

TLDR AI

OPENAI STAFF THREATENS EXODUS, JEOPARDIZING COMPANY’S FUTURE

OpenAI is in disarray following the board's ousting of CEO Sam Altman, with over 700 employees threatening to leave for Microsoft. One board member who previously supported Altman's removal now regrets his decision. Microsoft, holding a 49% stake in OpenAI, has reportedly guaranteed positions for all OpenAI employees at a new AI subsidiary.

nytimes.com · 5 min

TLDR Web Dev

CSS NESTING

This article discusses the introduction of native CSS nesting in major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, a feature previously available only in CSS preprocessors (like Sass). It emphasizes the ease and benefits of using CSS nesting, providing various examples to illustrate its utility. Examples include nesting elements without a class or ID, using CSS combinators, and employing the ampersand symbol for more complex nesting scenarios. The article also showcases practical applications of CSS nesting in different contexts, such as styling post content and card components.

ishadeed.com · 9 min

TLDR Crypto

US JUSTICE DEPT REPORTEDLY READY TO SETTLE WITH BINANCE FOR $4B

The DOJ is reportedly close to finalizing a $4 billion settlement with crypto exchange Binance. The settlement would conclude the department's investigation into the company's alleged involvement in money laundering, bank fraud, and sanctions violations. As part of the deal, Binance must meet conditions including the payment of fines, admission of non-compliance, and setting up a monitoring process for future legal compliance.

cointelegraph.com · 2 min

TLDR Design

META’S NEW AI MILESTONE: EMU VIDEO AND EMU EDIT SET TO REVOLUTIONIZE TEXT-TO-VIDEO GENERATION AND IMAGE EDITING

Emu Edit allows users to input text-based instructions to make changes to images like local and global editing, adding or removing backgrounds, color and geometry transformations, object detection, and segmentation. The Emu Video tool, based on diffusion models, provides a simple method for text-to-video generation — it responds to various inputs, including text only, image only, or both.

venturebeat.com · 3 min

TLDR

HUNDREDS OF OPENAI EMPLOYEES THREATEN TO RESIGN AND JOIN MICROSOFT

Most of the staff at OpenAI have threatened to resign from the company and join Microsoft. Microsoft has assured OpenAI staff that there are positions for all OpenAI employees in its new advanced AI research team should they choose to join. Over 650 out of a total of 770 OpenAI staff have signed a letter saying they will leave if the board doesn't reinstate Sam Altman and Greg Brockman and then resign. The board seems to have decided to remain in place - they have named a new CEO, Emmett Shear.

theverge.com · 4 min

TLDR

NYC WILL SOON BE HOME TO 15 ROBOT-RUN VEGETARIAN RESTAURANTS FROM CHIPOTLE’S FOUNDER

Kernel, a new endeavor from the founder of Chipotle, is a vegetarian fast-casual restaurant that will be operated mostly by robots. There are plans to open at least 15 locations with the first opening by early 2024. The remainder will be on track for New York City in the next two years. Each location will employ three workers who will receive more pay and better benefits than people working at other chains.

ny.eater.com · 2 min

TLDR

‘ELECTROCALORIC’ HEAT PUMP COULD TRANSFORM AIR CONDITIONING

A new type of heat pump developed by materials scientists at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology in Belvaux uses electric fields and a special ceramic to warm or cool air. The technology combines a number of existing techniques and could be potentially competitive with heat pumps without the need for refrigerants in a smaller space. It still needs to be refined further before it is ready for commercialization.

nature.com · 2 min

TLDR

THOSE WHO HAVE MAINTAINED FORKS OF OSS AT WORK, WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE LIKE? (LOBSTERS THREAD)

This thread looks at the experience of those who have maintained open-source software at work, particularly those with forks of abandoned projects and forks that diverged from upstream. The replies in the thread are long and detailed.

lobste.rs