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When it comes to recruiting and retaining artificial intelligence researchers, OpenAI has faced tougher competition this year from old and new rivals. Now it’s facing pressure from a very recent former employee: ex-chief technology officer Mira Murati.

Murati, whose last day was Friday, October 4 and now is as an advisor to the company, has been speaking with OpenAI employees about potentially joining her next venture, though she hasn’t disclosed exactly what that venture would be, according to two people familiar with these conversations. Spokespeople from OpenAI and representing Murati declined to comment.

Whether Murati will join former OpenAI vice president Barret Zoph at his likely new startup, found one of her own or join an existing AI developer is anyone’s guess.

But researchers may be susceptible to her pitch. OpenAI’s research organization is in upheaval after the promotion of Liam Fedus to lead post-training, according to three people with knowledge of the situation. Several researchers have asked to switch teams, as sometimes can happen in these situations, two of these people said.

Fedus is effectively taking a position previously held by Zoph, who abruptly announced his departure on Sept. 25 at the same time as Murati and research chief Bob McGrew.

In a sign of the continued fallout, Luke Metz, who worked with Fedus and Zoph at Google's AI team and moved with them to OpenAI in 2022 to develop ChatGPT, announced his departure last week as well. Like the other departures, Metz left ahead of an upcoming share buyback in which OpenAI plans to buy shares from employees.

As we reported in the aftermath of Murati’s departure, OpenAI’s finance team has been working hard to counter offers from rivals including a new startup from Ilya Sutskever, an OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist. Given the solidarity that researchers like Zoph and McGrew appeared to show after Murati’s resignation, her recruiting efforts could further test CEO Sam Altman’s talent management skills.

Bloc officials overcome deep divisions on atomic power but finance goal commitment remains unresolved

EU ministers have nodded to support for nuclear energy for the first time as part of the bloc’s mandate for the UN climate summit, in a sign of atomic power’s rising prominence as an energy source.

Deep divisions between France and Germany held up the discussions over the EU’s negotiating stance for the COP29 gathering, but EU countries ultimately agreed that they should call to accelerate “low-emissions technologies” in line with a deal made at the previous COP28 summit that included nuclear power.

The push for more recognition of nuclear energy symbolises a shift in attitudes towards the power source in Europe, which were hardened against it following Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.

A group of mostly eastern European countries and France will publish a paper on Tuesday calling for Brussels to recognise the “pivotal role” of nuclear energy and ensure it is “duly integrated” in new proposals for EU energy regulation.

On the sidelines of the meeting on Monday, the Dutch and French governments also signed an agreement to increase co-operation on nuclear energy and push for more “institutional support” for nuclear power.

But several EU countries, including Germany, Austria and Denmark, fear that too much focus on nuclear could draw funds away from renewable energy as a cheaper, cleaner and faster way to cut the greenhouse gas emissions behind climate change.

“We see that nuclear has been kept alive by enormous amounts of public money without having an economically viable business model, while at the same time we see renewables costs decrease enormously,” said Leonore Gewessler, Austria’s climate minister. “Let’s put money where the most cost-efficient solution is — and that‘s renewables.”

The text agreed late on Monday sets out the EU’s negotiating mandate for the UN climate summit to be hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan, next month and is intended to establish the EU as one of the most ambitious negotiating parties.

Officials involved in the discussions said the nuclear debate had distracted from wider questions about the EU’s own energy mix and its contributions to international climate finance.

Linda Kachler, executive director of the Brussels-based think-tank Strategic Perspectives, said it was an “ideological debate on who is in favour of what technology instead of the debate on how fast the EU can get rid of fossil fuels, especially from Russia”.

A European official involved in the negotiations said nuclear positions had become “religious” and that the “elephant in the room” was the lack of discussion over how much the EU would contribute in funding to poorer countries most affected by climate change.

A key focus of the summit — dubbed by its organisers as the “finance COP” — is a new target for providing climate finance for the most vulnerable countries.

Under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, almost 200 countries must agree a new figure for climate finance by next year, meaning that COP29 is the last chance to settle on a goal.

Positions on the shape and quantum of a potential target are still far apart, with developing countries calling for an amount in the region of $1tn-$1.3tn.

Developed countries such as those in the EU, which is the biggest donor of climate finance, have been cautious about committing more public funds without accompanying structures to increase private funding.

They have also pushed for the base of donor countries to be broadened to nations such as China, Singapore and Saudi Arabia, which are considered under UN criteria set in 1992 as “developing” countries but are now industrially and financially powerful.

Eamon Ryan, Ireland’s climate minister, said he expected Baku to be the “most difficult [COP] negotiation since Paris . . . because it is about the money.”

Several EU ministers including Ryan and French climate minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher said there needed to be more focus on creating structures such as a capital markets union in Africa that would help raise money for renewable energy projects.

The EU’s climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said he had held “frequent fruitful discussions . . . on how to address financing” at a preliminary meeting in Baku last week.

“The way we will approach this negotiation in terms of financing is threefold,” he said. “Making sure there is more money available, and that holds good for both the public and private. Secondly making sure we don’t spread ourselves too thin but it lands with those most in need, and third lets make sure that everyone with the ability to pay actually rises to the occasion.”

Kai Mykkänen, Finland’s climate minister, said: “We can’t be in a situation forever where countries like Singapore . . . are still treated as developing countries even if their GDP per capita might be higher than that of many EU countries.”

If budget policies are unchanged, the IMF estimates that large increases in borrowing by the U.S., China and others will drive a rise in government debt to $100 trillion this year

Government debts are set to match the annual output of the global economy by the end of this decade, and could cross that threshold much sooner if economic growth is weaker or interest payments are higher than expected, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.

In its twice-yearly report on government finances, the Fund said spending cuts and tax rises of an unprecedented size would be needed over the coming five to seven years to stabilize or reduce debt.

“It’s time for governments to get their house in order,” said Era Dabla-Norris, deputy director for fiscal affairs at the IMF. “For all countries, a strategic pivot is needed to reduce debt risks.”

If budget policies are unchanged, the IMF estimates that large increases in borrowing by the U.S., China and others will drive a rise in government debt to $100 trillion this year, equivalent to roughly 93% of the world’s annual production of goods and services. The Fund expects government debt to rise further, and almost match annual world output by the end of the decade.

But that could happen sooner if government projections underestimate the rise in debt, as they have done in the past. The IMF said government debts tend to be six percentage points of economic output higher than anticipated after three years.

“There are sizable upside risks,” said Dabla-Norris. “Debt could be higher than we expect.”

In an extreme scenario, government debt could hit 115% of global output in 2026, while U.S. government debt could reach 150% of the country’s gross domestic product. According to the Fund’s calculations, U.S. government debt started the century at less than 60% of GDP, a proportion that has more than doubled already.

Borrowing surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spurred a further rise in debt as many European helped households and businesses pay sharply higher energy bills.

But debt is set to continue rising in a number of large economies. In addition to the U.S. and China, the IMF expects to see increases in government debt in Brazil, France, Italy, South Africa and the U.K.. It said delaying action in those countries will make the cuts in spending and tax rises needed to stabilize borrowing even larger.

The new French government Thursday unveiled a budget that aims at narrowing France’s deficit to 5% of economic output by the end of 2025, and 3% by 2029 from 5.5% in 2023.

As it is, the IMF estimates that average cuts in spending and tax rises of between 3% and 4.5% of gross domestic product will be needed to stop the rise in debt at “high probability.” Those adjustments are larger than planned, and also larger than previous adjustments.

The Fund’s call for action to reduce borrowing comes ahead of U.S. elections that appear unlikely to produce a move in that direction. According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, former president Donald Trump’s economic policy proposals would widen budget deficits by an estimated $7.5 trillion over the next decade, while vice president Kamala Harris’s plans would add $3.5 trillion.

Uncertainty about the future path of U.S. budget policy is likely to have a big impact on other governments, the IMF said. Increasingly, changes in the interest rates that governments pay are driven not by changes in their own circumstances, but by changes to the outlook for U.S. budget policy and the interest rates set by the Federal Reserve.

“This type of uncertainty can raise the volatility of borrowing costs and debt risks for other countries,” said Dabla-Norris.

The Fund said action to steady and lower debt was needed to create room for governments to support the transition from fossil fuels, increase military spending and care for an aging population. But while spending pressures are on the rise, the Fund noted that “political redlines on taxation have become more entrenched.”

According to the Fund, there is scope to increase tax revenues in both the U.S. and the U.K., where they are at a relatively low level as a proportion of economic output compared to rich-country peers. In the U.S., the IMF sees room to raise revenues from sales taxes, as well as taxes on higher incomes.

In poorer countries, the IMF said governments have greater scope to increase tax revenues by making collection more efficient and shrinking the size of the untaxed economy.

Jean-Pierre Mustier will continue to act as chief executive officer until Jan. 31, and remain a member of the board of directors

Atos ATO -0.83%decrease; red down pointing triangle appointed Philippe Salle as chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors as the beleaguered French IT group continues its financial restructuring.

Atos said Tuesday that Salle will assume his position as CEO from Feb. 1, 2025, while his appointment as chairman of the board of directors is effective immediately.

The company said Jean-Pierre Mustier will continue to act as chief executive officer until Jan. 31, and remain a member of the board of directors.

Salle will invest at least 9 million euros ($9.8 million) into the group as part of the financial restructuring, Atos said.

U.S. has sought to contain planned Israel counterattack on Tehran, hoping to head off wider Middle East war

WASHINGTON—Israel has assured the Biden administration that a planned retaliatory attack on Iran won’t target nuclear and oil facilities, according to U.S. officials, a promise sought by the White House to head off further Middle East escalation and to avoid a potential oil-price increase.

The pledges came in a call between President Biden and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, as well as in conversations in recent days between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, the officials said.

Israel has suggested it would aim for military or intelligence targets, the officials said, but has stopped short of providing the U.S. a list of specific targets. The planned attack is a response to Iran firing 180 missiles at Israel on Oct. 1 after an Israeli airstrike that killed Lebanese militia Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

“We listen to the opinion of the U.S., but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Israel’s response, which is likely to come before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5, could resemble a previous attack in April that hit an Iranian military base shortly after Tehran launched 300 missiles and drones at Israeli territory. But Israeli officials have said that their operation could hit unexpected targets. It is also likely to be more severe, analysts said.

For the White House, limiting the Israeli counterattack in hopes of heading off a wider Middle East war that could further draw in U.S. forces has been a critical goal with less than a month before the presidential election.

The National Security Council, Defense Department and Israeli Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the Israeli assurances, which were first reported by the Washington Post. Iran’s mission to the United Nations didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Natan Sachs, director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Middle East Policy, said Netanyahu’s decision was somewhat “reassuring for the Biden administration.” But, he added, Israel’s response is likely to aim for inflicting severe damage on Tehran.

Some of the Iranian missiles in the Oct. 1 attack, which targeted Israeli military and intelligence sites, penetrated Israel’s antimissile defenses, causing minor damage but raising fears that another Iran attack might prove more effective.

“The latest Iranian attack caused real damage, and Israel is intent on making clear the old rules still apply: that Iran should dare not strike Israel directly, rather than the new rules Iran hopes to establish, of a regular tit-for-tat between the two countries,” Sachs said.

Oil prices rose after Biden suggested earlier this month that U.S. officials were considering whether to support an Israeli strike on Iranian oil facilities. A day later, the president appeared at a White House press briefing room to say Israel should refrain from attacking Iranian oil facilities. “If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields,” Biden said on Oct. 4.

Some analysts say Biden should be wary of Netanyahu’s assurances about its attack.

“This wouldn’t be the first time he’s floated what Biden wanted to hear, then did an about face when he got blowback from the right,” said Frank Lowenstein, a State Department official in the Obama administration, adding that hard-liners in the Israeli government “are still pushing for an attack on the nuclear sites, or at least the oil facilities.”

If Iran responded to the planned Israeli strike with a counterattack on Israel, it would be the third instance of Tehran hitting Israeli territory this year.

The U.S. signaled its support for Israel’s plans Sunday when it announced it was sending a missile-defense system designed to shoot down ballistic missiles to Israel. The decision marked a significant step in American efforts to bolster Israel’s defenses, putting U.S. soldiers on its territory.

The U.S. Army-operated Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, known as Thaad, is expected to begin arriving in the coming days, along with roughly 100 soldiers to operate it.

Cosmetics company says retailers are tightening their inventories as mass beauty sales continue to see slow growth trends, particularly in the U.S.

Coty warned investors of an expected sales slowdown in the second quarter, joining its competitors in sounding the alarm on a global slowdown in the growth of the beauty market.

The cosmetics company, whose brands include Max Factor, Covergirl and Lancaster, said on Monday retailers are tightening their inventories due to weaker beauty product sales and demand trends, especially in the U.S.

The stock was down 6.8% to $8.55 in post-market trading. Through Monday’s close shares have fallen 26% this year.

Overall, Coty expects store sales to rise 4% to 5% in the fiscal first quarter ending Sept. 30, and sales in the second quarter to grow moderately. During the height of the pandemic demand exploded for beauty products across regions, especially for fragrances and skincare products, even as inflation weighed on consumers. Coty, with a large portfolio of fragrances, was one of the main winners in the industry, and saw annual sales jump to $6.12 billion in fiscal 2024 from $4.72 billion in fiscal 2020.

The company is now facing tougher competition from smaller brands, as well as a challenging consumer backdrop. In August, the company said it swung to a loss in its fiscal fourth quarter, and reported revenue growth of 1%.

Coty said sales to retailers are well below final sales to consumers in key markets such as the U.S., Australia, Travel Retail Asia and China, even if its exposure to the Asian giant is limited.

In the second half of the year, Coty forecasts some growth acceleration supported by easier prior-year comparisons, launch initiatives and distribution expansions.

Big competitors including L’Oréal and Estée Lauder have in recent months also signaled weakening trends in the beauty industry, especially in China and the U.S. On the cosmetics retail side, Chicago-based company Ulta Beauty is expected to update the market on the health of the industry on Wednesday, coinciding with its first analyst day in three years.

“The operating environment remains dynamic, and the low end of our range implies incremental pressure on consumer spending,” Ulta’s finance chief Paula Oyibo said during the company’s latest earnings call with analysts. “We have taken a more cautious view for the year.”