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📣 Altman gets 7% equity while CTO leaves

📣 Altman gets 7% equity while CTO leaves

Meta's AI-powered glasses

Techonomy Barista
September 27, 2024

We’re the Techonomy Barista - your curated feed of tech revolutions and economic evolutions. 📱

Sam Altman contemplates the future of OpenAI with a flurry of recent senior execs. along with the company turning for-profit.

Today’s news:

OpenAI to give 7% equity to Altman; CTO Murati leaves with two others.
Canva trying to eat Adobe’s lunch.
China pumps in $284 billion stimulus to help economy.
Meta launches AI-powered smart glasses with celeb voices.

We’re excited to announce we have launched a podcast for our top stories because we heard some of you like to listen on the move, so please give this a try and let us know if you have any suggestions! Just note that it could give slightly inaccurate information but from recent tests, it has got better. 🙂

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Economic Calendar

Calendar shows important economic events for the top five economies of the world. All times US EST.

1. OpenAI mulls 7% equity stake for CEO Sam Altman while CTO Mira Murati leaves company 😯

Source: Bloomberg, Techonomy Barista research.

Key takeaways:

OpenAI is considering giving CEO Sam Altman a 7% equity stake, as company explores transition to a for-profit public benefit corporation.
CTO Mira Murati announced her departure from OpenAI on Wednesday
- Soon after, Barret Zoph, VP of Research and Bob McGrew, Chief Research Office announced they’re quitting as well.
- Sam Altman wrote praising them all on X.
Several high-profile departures since Altman's firing and rehiring last year.
Only original founding team remaining are Altman and Wojciech Zaremba.
As we reported earlier, OpenAI is reportedly working on raising $6.5 billion at a $150 billion valuation.

What this could mean for OpenAI's future:

The shift to a for-profit model could accelerate OpenAI's product development and market expansion. 🚀
Granting equity to Altman may align leadership interests closely with company growth.
Mira Murati leaving could bring fresh perspectives but might also disrupt ongoing projects.
Balancing profit motives with the original mission of beneficial AI may become more challenging.

2. Canva challenges Adobe with AI push, eyes IPO and $26 billion valuation 🚀

Source: Bloomberg

Key takeaways:

Canva, valued at $26 billion, targets Adobe's dominance in $15.4 billion creative software market.
Company acquires Leonardo.Ai and Affinity, bets on AI to boost growth and attract enterprise clients.
IPO preparation continues amid CFO vacancy and questions about corporate readiness.

Canva's user base doubled to 190 million since 2022

Source: Yahoo

What this could mean for Canva's future:

AI integration could accelerate Canva's growth, disrupting Adobe's market dominance.
Attracting more paying subscribers and enterprise clients crucial for long-term profitability.
Balancing innovation with addressing concerns about AI copyright and privacy issues vital for success.

3. China's economic revival plan: $284 billion stimulus on the horizon 🚀

Decline in China’s home prices

Source: National Bureau of Statistics, Bloomberg

Key takeaways:

China's Politburo pledges to support fiscal spending and stabilize the property sector as new home prices fell in August at the fastest pace since 2014. 🏘️
Government plans to issue 2 trillion yuan ($284.43 billion) in special sovereign bonds.
Stimulus package expected to lift economy by 0.2 percentage points.
CSI 300 Index extended gains to 4.2%, erasing losses for the year.
Yield on China's 10-year bonds rose 7 basis points, marking biggest advance since November 2022.

What this could mean for China’s economy:

The massive stimulus package could be just what the doctor ordered for China's economic fever. With $284 billion injected into the economy, we might see a significant boost in growth. 💹
But let's not forget, even the Great Wall wasn't built in a day – it'll take time for these effects to fully materialize.
In the meantime, grab some popcorn and watch the economic drama unfold.🍿 This stimulus could be the plot twist that turns China's economic story from a suspense thriller to a feel-good comeback tale.

4. Meta unveils AI-powered future with smart glasses and virtual celebs 🤖

Key takeaways:

Meta announced prototype Orion AR glasses with holographic displays and hand gesture controls.
Quest 3S launched at $299.99.
Meta AI introduced celebrity voices and live translation features.
Ray-Ban Smart Glasses received updates including hands-free music control and translation.
New AI tools for Instagram and Facebook include automatic video translation and image generation.

What this could mean for you:

Your social media experience might become more immersive and multilingual, with AI-powered translation for video content.
Distinguishing between real and AI-generated content might become more challenging.
Be prepared for some awkward hand-waving in public as you try to control your new AR eyewear. 👓🕺

📣 Altman gets 7% equity while CTO leaves