Latest news with #AI-free
Politico
3 days ago
- Business
- Politico
Bringing in the ‘big guns': Sam Altman's campaign to keep ChatGPT on top
While Zingale is not an employee, tapping him to chart a path forward for a multibillion-dollar nonprofit is one more way Lehane has sought to work the public narrative in his favor. Zingale brought on Huerta, giving the recommendations the imprimatur of the legendary co-founder of the United Farm Workers at a time when labor groups fear AI will increasingly take jobs away from workers. Huerta, too, has decades of deep ties to Democratic politicians. She supported Harris during the 2020 primary and campaigned with her in 2024, supporting Democratic candidates dating back to Robert F. Kennedy. She told POLITICO that she met with some of OpenAI's researchers, but no members of the board or leadership. 'We didn't ask to meet with them, and they didn't ask to meet with us,' she said. Huerta said she had 'no idea' why she was asked to sit on the commission, but guessed it was because of her civil rights background. She said she didn't know if her agreeing to it had helped the company's reputation in California, as it faces regulatory scrutiny. (Both of Bonta's parents were involved in UFW organizing.) The commission's report strongly endorsed a nonprofit model for OpenAI with an oversight role for attorneys general and imagined the company as a new kind of philanthropic force. The advisers want OpenAI to fund a wide mix of ideas to prepare for AI's growing presence in everyday life, from supporting public parks and other common areas as AI-free spaces to research on the technology's safety risks. The day of the report's release, OpenAI held court with more than 1,000 nonprofit leaders at events across the country. It committed $50 million to fund civic group initiatives the next day, which Lehane said could come with additional AI tools, as part of his messaging on the good the company is prepared to do if regulators allow it to operate as it wants. 'Our single best lobbyist is our innovation,' Lehane said. A key piece of his approach, he added, has been to 'forge partnerships with stakeholders and entities that are going to be particularly relevant to the public conversation' and show them OpenAI's technology. Because the report is not binding, groups that weighed in are counting on Bonta to set the course. Ronnie Chatterji chief economist Chatterji is an alum of both the Obama White House and Biden administration, under which he oversaw the implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act. As OpenAI's chief economist, he preaches the company message of allowing AI to flourish for the state's financial future. 'This is the largest nonprofit ever,' Bell said of why there has been such intense interest in the issue. 'We are talking about a scale that we simply have never seen before.' Lehane, too, is wielding that fact publicly, as Bonta weighs what to do with his investigation and OpenAI's billions of dollars remain, for now, headquartered in California. OpenAI recently appealed directly to Newsom and state lawmakers, sending them a curated report about the company's economic impact on the state, first reported by POLITICO. It was compiled by former Biden White House official Ronnie Chatterjee, now OpenAI's chief economist, and outlined the billions in revenue the state would lose if the company packs up, reaching nearly $6 billion in total economic impact in 2030. 'There is no state or country in the world today that would not want to be California when it comes to AI,' the report stated. But it warned: 'Provided, that is, that the state doesn't drive AI out of California through well-intended but not well-understood overregulation.'
Eyewitness News
04-06-2025
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Meat importers call on govt to reopen for poultry imports from countries free of avian flu
JOHANNESBURG - The Association of Meat Importers is calling for the Agriculture Department to reopen poultry imports from countries free from avian influenza. Since May 16, South Africa has imposed a ban on its primary poultry supplier, Brazil, owing to an outbreak of avian flu. ALSO READ: DFFE warns that avian influenza may have reached Marion Island This has forced the government to look towards countries like Sweden, Denmark and Belgium, which are unaffected by the outbreak. CEO of Meat Importers Association, Imameleng Mothebe, said, "Opening access to each additional AI-free market will help stabilise prices, ensure availability of affordable protein, safeguard jobs in the process and ensure our country is future-proofed of avian influenza supply shortages."
IOL News
04-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Urgent call to reopen poultry imports amid supply crisis
The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE) has urged the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development to immediately resume poultry imports from countries that have declared themselves free of Avian Influenza, in line with World Organisation for Animal Health guidelines. The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE) has urged the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development to immediately resume poultry imports from countries that have declared themselves free of Avian Influenza, in line with World Organisation for Animal Health guidelines. These countries include France (February 4, 2025), Sweden (March 31, 2025), and both Denmark and Belgium (May 23, 2025). The last recorded imports from Denmark were in 2020, when South Africa imported an average of 1 384 metric tons of poultry products per month, including both poultry cuts and mechanically deboned meat (MDM). AMIE on Wednesday also welcomed the Department of Agriculture's commitment to make a determination on a partial lifting of the Brazilian import suspension by the end of this week. This would be based on the fact that the Avian Flu outbreak is contained to the Rio Grande do Sol province in Brazil. Brazilian imports are currently halted due to the Avian Influenza outbreak in Rio Grande do Sol, which produces between 10% to 15% of all poultry in that country. Since local producers are unable to meet total demand, particularly for poultry offal and MDM, which South Africa does not produce at scale, it is critical to diversify supply sources to ensure continued affordability, availability, and market stability, it said. Imameleng Mothebe, the CEO of AMIE, said: 'Opening access to each additional AI-free market will help alleviate some of the current poultry supply gap and reduce the growing economic and food security risks created by the current overall suspension of imports from Brazil. Even with a partial lifting of the suspension of imports from Brazil, there will still be a shortfall that will need to be filled in order to maintain consumption demand in our country. Opening additional markets not only fills this gap, but also future proofs South Africa against AI-related supply shortages.' South African Meat Processors Association urged the government to implement zoning (regionalisation) with all haste. "One of our members, Sky Country Meats, has already been forced to lay off almost 100 employees, with more retrenchments to follow next week if imports of MDM are not restored as a matter of absolute urgency," it said.
