OpenAI reached out to multiple people for potential CEO

In today’s email:

👀 OpenAI reached out to multiple people for potential CEO
🤑 Salesforce offering OpenAI Staff to Match Pay
👧 Who is Helen Toner? Meet the 30-something Australian OpenAI board member who voted out Sam Altman
🧰 8 new AI-powered tools and resources. Make sure to check the online version for the full list of tools.

Before Emmett Shear accepted the Interim CEO role at OpenAI, the board offered it to Nat Friedman, the former CEO of Microsoft-owned GitHub and a prolific investor in artificial intelligence startups, as well as Alex Wang, co-founder and CEO of Scale AI, according to people familiar with the matter. Both declined the offer, the people said.

The refusals show the challenges facing OpenAI’s board in finding a new leader following the board’s Friday firing of OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, which set off a string of senior resignations. Late Sunday, OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever said Altman would not be reinstated, as some employees wanted, and that Shear, co-founder of Amazon-owned video streaming site Twitch, would take over as Interim CEO.

Amazon’s “AI Ready” initiative aims to provide free AI skills training to 2 million people globally by 2025. This commitment includes launching new AI and generative AI courses for adults and young learners, as well as scaling existing free AI training programs. Key aspects of this initiative are:

New Free Courses and Scholarships: Amazon is offering eight new free AI and generative AI courses, aligned with in-demand jobs. Additionally, the AWS Generative AI Scholarship will provide Udacity scholarships to over 50,000 high school and university students.
Collaboration with Code.org: Amazon is collaborating with Code .org to introduce students to generative AI through the “Hour of Code Dance Party: AI Edition,” where students can learn about AI by creating virtual music videos.
Addressing AI Talent Demand: An AWS study shows a strong demand for AI talent, with 73% of employers prioritizing hiring AI-skilled talent. However, three out of four employers are unable to meet their AI talent needs.
Higher Salary Potential: Workers with AI skills can earn up to 47% more, highlighting the importance of AI education in the current job market.
Inclusive AI Education: Amazon’s efforts focus on making AI education accessible to a diverse range of people, with a special emphasis on underserved and underrepresented communities.
Long-Term Commitment: This initiative is part of Amazon’s broader goal to provide free cloud computing skills training to 29 million people by 2025, building on their progress of already having trained over 21 million people.