Sorry to say but I talked to @JohnFetterman for over an hour without stop or any aides and this is just nonsense. Maybe this reporter is just bad at small talk.
Listen to the interview in which we did not edit the ums or ahs out as we typically do for everyone else. There were few slips — I had more — and at no moment did he seem distracted: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-…
Lastly the most irksome thing for me when I had a stroke in 2011 is all Dr. Google folks who kept trying to give me advice (“Slow down,” they’d say; “Fuck you,” I’d reply) or study my speech for signs of trouble. It is a slow recovery but many younger people do just fine.
Btw 11 years later, I still fear another, even tho anyone can die at any moment of anything at all. That’s why I’m getting heart surgery soon — the medical strides related to strokes are impressive — to close the hole there that caused it. Just not by this guy. Or Oz.
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SCOOP: As I told him would happen, @donlemon, the owner of this platform Elon Musk sent a terse text to his reps: “Contract terminated” after an interview Lemon did with Musk last Friday that was not to the adult toddler’s liking, including questions about his ketamine use.
The much touted multi-million-dollar deal was a pricey effort to attract high profile media creators to X. Not so much when perpetually aggrieved billionaires in desperate need for constant affirmation run the place. So much for free speech.
I had told Don that this is exactly what would occur, including at a recent book tour event in NYC for my memoir, “Burn Book,” he moderated, despite promises by Musk and CEO Linda Yaccarino — who extravagantly touted this deal at CES to advertisers — that this time was different.
Soft disagree with this pearl clutching tone. And since I know every one of these tech leaders well, I have to say that @sama is no different than most of the talented ones, which is to say, aggressive, sometimes imperious and, yes, self-serving. Wot? washingtonpost.com/technology/202…
This line was silly since every ceo does this: “[It was] evidenced by his unwillingness to entertain any board makeup that wasn’t heavily skewed in his favor.” You’re fucking kidding said no one ever.
Also I cannot believe this article forced me to agree with @rabois: “Insofar as he is polarizing, it’s because he is young, successful and ambitious, and people are envious.” Oh man.
Ok, I am back for a few hours to update you since this idiocy at @OpenAI is pretty epic. Thus, let me tell you what’s what: The negotiations with @sama were ongoing and there was a noon PT deadline today when @ilyasut and his side asked until 5 pm. That’s when things went wacky.
After dithering with Altman and his side for a few more hours, they dropped this out of left field, introducing a ceo who is — and I am being generous here, less than impressive in comparison to the interim ceo @miramurati and obvi Altman. But she wanted Altman and @gdb back, which was the right move, so the lady had to go.
@miramurati @gdb Microsoft CEO @satyanadella was quite involved — he wanted Altman back — and investors at @sequoia and @thrive less so. While the company will make nice public noises (it has to) after this dopey turn of the screw, what I assume it’s actually thinking is WTF & where’s the exit.
Scoop: There are about to be a lot more major departures of top folks at @OpenAI tonight and I assume Altman will make a statement tonight. But, as I understand it, it was a “misalignment” of the profit versus nonprofit adherents at the company. The developer day was an issue.
Sources tell me that the profit direction of the company under Altman and the speed of development, which could be seen as too risky, and the nonprofit side dedicated to more safety and caution were at odds. One person on the Sam side called it a “coup,” while another said it was the the right move.
This seems more plausible, but the tech community is also rife with rumors of all kinds, some really out there. A lot of questionable incoming, for sure.
1. She and her PR person knew all day and were also offered to go on before @yoyoel too. Their choice as they wanted the last word, I guess. I also sent a text to her and everyone involved early this morning. No one was sandbagged. Yoel was asked a week ago btw. Do you think I prepped a detailed interview in a hour, @danprimack?
2. She is the CEO and should be able to perform under pressure regardless. She should have all the numbers and facts at her fingertips. She should be able to articulate a vision easily. If she’s paid the big bucks, she needs to bring the big guns. The very talented @JBoorstin pressed her fairly and gave her ample time to respond.
3. Not once in 20 years did we ever worry about booking anyone as a condition of how we conducted our interviews. See Zuckerberg. See Fiorina. See Semel. And yet we managed to thrive and make millions in profits annually. Good lord, is making CEOs all comfy my job? It is not.
This is true. Several government officials — all fans of Musk — approached me in 2022 asking for insights on how to best handle him and were grappling with how to please him. I was absolutely gobsmacked that petting a billionaire was what they had to do in the midst of war.
Whatever your take on the war, I was perplexed that the US government would tolerate this free-lance behavior from a contractor and someone who had some clearly questionable self interests across the globe. It was an eye opener for sure.
“This is the price of a cocktail of ignorance and big ego” kind of says it all.