Sam Altman reinstated at OpenAI; UK watchdog cracks down on cookies; Media Bill to maximise British media

by Aimee Newell Tarín on 23rd Nov 2023 in News

On today’s ExchangeWire digest: Sam Altman reinstated at OpenAI; UK watchdog cracks down on cookies; Media Bill to maximise British media…

Sam Altman reinstated at OpenAI

Days after being fired by the OpenAI board, Sam Altman has been reinstated to his position as CEO. His return follows almost all 750 members of the workforce threatening to quit unless he was reinstated and the board was replaced. In the deal agreed, a new board will be led by Bret Taylor (former co-CEO of software firm Salesforce). Altman had initially been sacked due to uncandid communications with the board, which it claimed had hindered “his ability to exercise his responsibilities”. Before being rehired by OpenAI, Altman had accepted a position at Microsoft.

In other company news, OpenAI also announced in a post on X that ChatGPT’s new voice feature is now available to all free users. Users can now use their voice to talk to ChatGPT, as well as get audible responses from it.

UK watchdog cracks down on cookies

UK regulator, the Information Commissioner, says that some major sites are still not giving users “fair” choices on cookie usage. It has given UK companies 30 days to comply with the law which says it should be as easy to reject as accept all cookies. The regulator warns that companies that do not comply with the legislation risk being fined, and has reportedly issued enforcement notices – none of the companies have been named however.

Media Bill to maximise British media

The new Media Bill, which had its second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday, sets out to “unleash the power of British broadcasters to attract bigger audiences in the UK and abroad, empowering them to invest in new talent and technology”, as well as supporting the government’s ambition to grow the UK’s creative industries by £50 billion and one million jobs by 2030. One aim is to help public service broadcasters to make more hit shows and ensure they are prominently shown on CTV. New measures will also be added to ensure a wide range of TV genres continue to be shown by the UK’s main broadcasters, among others.