Sebastien Bubeck, a distinguished scientist and vice president of AI at Microsoft, has recently made the decision to join OpenAI, a prominent organization in the field of artificial intelligence. Bubeck has been a part of Microsoft for the past decade and has held various leadership positions within the company. His departure from Microsoft is said to be in pursuit of his work towards developing artificial general intelligence (AGI). Microsoft has invested significantly in OpenAI, to the tune of $13 billion, and this partnership benefits both organizations as OpenAI gains computing resources and funding, while Microsoft gains access to advanced AI technology. Microsoft’s recent efforts to develop its own large language model separate from OpenAI’s GPT-4 have raised questions about the speed at which Microsoft is able to provide computing power for AI research.
Jon Jenkins, who previously led Amazon’s cashierless technology efforts, has also made a career move by joining Lime as its new chief technology officer. Jenkins was part of the team that developed Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology, which enables checkout-free shopping at grocery stores and other retailers. His expertise in technology and experience at companies like Hestan Smart Cooking, Pinterest, and a Seattle-based cooking startup will be valuable assets to Lime as they continue to innovate in the realm of shared transportation. Jenkins expressed excitement about the technical challenges that lie ahead as Lime works towards its mission of providing sustainable and affordable transportation options globally.
Yejin Choi, an artificial intelligence researcher specializing in natural language processing, announced her departure from the University of Washington and the Allen Institute for AI in Seattle. Choi will be joining Stanford University as a professor in the Computer Science Department and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) starting in the summer of 2025. In the interim, she will be working at Nvidia as senior director of LLM research during a “gap year.” Choi’s achievements, including being named a 2022 MacArthur Fellow and one of Time’s Most Influential People in AI, reflect her significant contributions to the field of artificial intelligence.
Craig Duncan, the chief of Rare studio, is set to take over as the head of Xbox Game Studios, replacing the retiring Alan Hartman, a longtime leader at Microsoft. In the realm of EV charging infrastructure, Kyler Schmitz has joined Seattle-based startup Electric Era as chief revenue officer, following an extensive tenure at Amazon Web Services. Additionally, Seattle biotech startup Kayothera has added Bruce Carter, former CEO of ZymoGenetics, and Paul Sekhri, CEO and chairman of vTv Therapeutics, to its board of directors. These industry veterans bring valuable expertise and leadership to Kayothera as they continue their work in the biotech sector.
