Latest news with #Perlmutter
Hindustan Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
How Hollywood's richest immigrant lived on streets, built $4.9 billion net worth from just $250, revived bankrupt Marvel
The list of the Immigrant Billionaires of 2025 from Forbes is led by some of the richest men in the world. Elon Musk leads the fray, with names like Sergey Brin, Satya Nadella, Rupert Murdoch, and George Soros all finding a place. Among them is one of the richest and most influential names in Hollywood. The richest immigrant in Hollywood has a staggering net worth of $4.9 billion, quite an increase from the $250 he once had in his pocket. Isaac Perlmutter of Marvel has had a strong political relationship with US President Donald Trump. Story of Hollywood's richest immigrant Businessman and film producer Isaac Perlmutter was born to a Jewish family in Palestine in 1945 and grew up in the newly formed state of Israel. After serving in the Israel Defence Forces in the Six-Day War of 1967, Isaac moved to the US. When he arrived in New York City, a young Isaac Perlmutter only had $250 to his name. He lived outside cemeteries and earned a living offering Hebrew services for funerals. Over time, he grew to selling toys on the streets. While the businessman never attended college, he taught himself to read balance sheets. By the 70s, he had developed a knack for reviving weak and distressed companies. In 1988, this allowed him to buy Coleco, a toy manufacturer. In 1993, Perlmutter became a member of the board of directors of Marvel Comics. He later merged his company, Toy Biz, with Marvel, forming Marvel Enterprises, as Marvel was going bankrupt. In 2001, Perlmutter became vice chairman of Marvel and, eventually, the CEO of Marvel Entertainment. It was under his stewardship that Marvel Studios was set up under Kevin Feige. Perlmutter remained Marvel Entertainment CEO till 2023, and was overseeing all Marvel films till 2015 and all TV shows till 2019. In March 2023, he was laid off from the company as part of a restructuring, and eventually, he sold all his shares in the company for $4 billion in cash. Forbes has estimated Perlmutter's net worth at $4.9 billion as of July 2025. Isaac Perlmutter's controversies The film producer heralded the revival of Marvel through films like Hulk, Spider-Man, and Iron Man (which began the MCU), but he remained a controversial figure throughout. Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios, reported his frustration in working with Perlmutter due to their creative difference. In 2010, he caused controversy when he fired Terence Howard from Iron Man 2 for asking for a higher fee and replaced him with Don Cheadle, arguing that black people "look the same." After 2015, Feige was asked not to report to Perlmutter. He continued to oversee Marvel Television till 2019, before he was sidelined from there too.
WIRED
27-06-2025
- Business
- WIRED
No One Is in Charge at the US Copyright Office
Jun 27, 2025 10:20 AM During a wild time for copyright law, the US Copyright Office has no one at the helm—and no one knows when that will change. A sign is displayed at the entrance to the U.S. Copyright Office on June 13, 2025, in Washington, DC. Photograph:It's a tumultuous time for copyright in the United States, with dozens of potentially economy-shaking AI copyright lawsuits winding through the courts. It's also the most turbulent moment in the US Copyright Office's history. Described as 'sleepy' in the past, the Copyright Office has taken on new prominence during the AI boom, issuing key rulings about AI and copyright. It also hasn't had a leader in more than a month. In May, Copyright Register Shira Perlmutter was abruptly fired by email by the White House's deputy director of personnel. Perlmutter is now suing the Trump Administration, alleging that her firing was invalid; the government maintains that the executive branch has the authority to dismiss her. As the legality of the ouster is debated, the reality within the office is this: There's effectively nobody in charge. And without a leader actually showing up at work, the Copyright Office is not totally business-as-usual; in fact, there's debate over whether the copyright certificates it's issuing could be challenged. The firing followed a pattern. The USCO is part of the Library of Congress; Perlmutter had been appointed to her role by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. A few days before Perlmutter's dismissal, Hayden, who had been in her role since 2016, was also fired by the White House via email. The White House appointed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who had previously served as President Trump's defense attorney, as the new acting Librarian of Congress. Two days after Pelmutter's firing, Justice Department official Paul Perkins showed up at the Copyright Office, along with his colleague Brian Nieves. According to an affidavit from Perlmutter, they were carrying "printed versions of emails" from Blanche indicating that they had been appointed to new roles within the Copyright Office. Perkins, the email said, was designated as Acting Register of Copyrights. In other words, he was Perlmutter's replacement. But was Blanche actually the acting Librarian, and thus able to appoint Perkins as such? Within the Library of Congress, someone else had already assumed the role—Robert Newlen, Hayden's former second-in-command, who has worked at the LOC since the 1970s. Following Hayden's ouster, Newlen emailed LOC staff asserting that he was the acting Librarian—never mentioning Blanche—and noting that 'Congress is engaged with the White House' on how to proceed. In her lawsuit, Perlmutter argues that only the Librarian of Congress can fire and appoint a new Register. In a filing on Tuesday, defendants argued that the president does indeed have the authority to fire and appoint the Librarian of Congress, and that his appointees then have the ability to choose a new Copyright Register. Neither the Department of Justice nor the White House responded to requests for comment on this issue; the Library of Congress declined to comment. Perkins and Nieves did not enter the USCO office or assume the roles they purported to fill the day they showed up. And since they left, sources within the Library of Congress tell WIRED, they have never returned, nor have they assumed any of the duties associated with the roles. These sources say that Congress is in talks with the White House to reach an agreement over these personnel disputes. A congressional aide familiar with the situation told WIRED that Blanche, Perkins, Nieves had not shown up for work 'because they don't have jobs to show up to.' The aide continued: 'As we've always maintained, the President has no authority to appoint them. Robert Newlen has always been the Acting Librarian of Congress.' If talks are happening, they remain out of public view. But Perlmutter does have some members of Congress openly on her side. 'The President has no authority to remove the Register of Copyrights. That power lies solely with the Librarian of Congress. I'm relieved that the situation at the Library and Copyright Office has stabilized following the administration's unconstitutional attempt to seize control for the executive branch. I look forward to quickly resolving this matter in a bipartisan way,' Senator Alex Padilla tells WIRED in a statement. In the meantime, the Copyright Office is in the odd position of attempting to carry on as though it wasn't missing its head. Immediately after Perlmutter's dismissal, the Copyright Office paused issuing registration certificates 'out of an abundance of caution,' according to USCO spokesperson Lisa Berardi Marflak, who says the pause impacted around 20,000 registrations. It resumed activities on May 29th, but it is now sending out registration certificates with a blank spot where Perlmutter's signature would ordinarily be. This unusual change has prompted discussion amongst copyright experts as to whether the registrations are now more vulnerable to legal challenges. The Copyright Office maintains that they are valid: 'There is no requirement that the Register's signature must appear on registration certificates,' says Berardi Marflak. In a motion related to Perlmutter's lawsuit, though, she alleges that sending out the registrations without a signature opens them up to 'challenges in litigation,' something outside copyright experts have also pointed out. 'It's true the law doesn't explicitly require a signature,' IP lawyer Rachael Dickson says. 'However, the law really explicitly says that it's the Register of Copyright determining whether the material submitted for the application is copyrightable subject matter.' Without anyone acting as Register, Dickson thinks it would be reasonable to argue that the statutory requirements are not being met. 'If you take them completely out of the equation, you have a really big problem,' she says. 'Litigators who are trying to challenge a copyright registration's validity will jump on this.' Perlmutter's lawyers have argued that leaving the Copyright Office without an active boss will cause dysfunction beyond the registration certificate issue, as the Register performs a variety of tasks, from advising Congress on copyright to recertifying organizations like the Mechanical Licensing Collective, the nonprofit in charge of administering royalties for streaming and download music in the United States. Since the MLC's certification is up right now, Perlmutter would ordinarily be moving forward with recertifying the organization; as her lawsuit notes, right now, the recertification process is not moving forward. The MLC may not be as impacted by Perlmutter's absence as the complaint suggests. A source close to the MLC told WIRED that the organization does indeed need to be recertified, but that the law doesn't require the recertification process to be completed within a specific time frame, so it will be able to continue operating as usual. Still, there are other ways that the lack of a boss is a clear liability. The Copyright Claims Board, a three-person tribunal that resolves some copyright disputes, needs to replace one of its members this year, as a current board member, who did not reply to a request for comment, is leaving. The job posting is already live and says applications are being reviewed, but as the position is supposed to be appointed by the Librarian of Congress with the guidance of the Copyright Register, it's unclear how exactly it will be filled. A source familiar at the Library of Congress tells WIRED that Newlen could make the appointment if necessary, but 'we expect there to be some kind of greater resolution by then.' As they wait for the resolution, it remains an especially inopportune time for a headless Copyright Office. Perlmutter was fired just days after the office released a hotly-contested report on generative AI training and fair use. That report has already been heavily cited in a new class action lawsuit against AI tools Suno and Udio, even though it was technically a 'pre-publication' version and not finalized. But everyone looking to see what a final report will say—or what guidance the office will issue next—can only keep waiting.
Time of India
25-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Fired copyright chief sues Trump after explosive claim that AI firms are stealing from creators
Former US copyright chief Shira Perlmutter plans on suing Donald Trump after the POTUS fired her post a critical report on AI and copyright . Now, she's suing him, saying he had no right to remove her. This fight could change how copyright and AI are handled in the U.S. In May 2025, things changed when Shira Perlmutter, the longtime head of the office, was suddenly fired. She was told in an email from the White House that she was no longer the Register of Copyrights, effective right away, according to the Thar Tribune report. A day earlier, Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress who appointed Perlmutter in 2020, was also fired. These quick firings shocked the legal and creative world, with no clear reason given at first. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villa For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Villas in Dubai | Search ads Learn More Undo AI report and timing On May 9, the Copyright Office released a big report about AI and copyright after working on it for 2 years. The report said sometimes using copyrighted work to train AI is allowed, but not always. It depends on things like purpose, source, and impact, as per reports. The report didn't take sides—it was balanced and focused on details. But people noticed the report came out just one day after Hayden was fired, and that felt suspicious. Then Perlmutter got fired the very next day, on May 10, in a direct message from a White House assistant, as stated by the Thar Tribune report. Live Events New leaders and chaos Within 48 hours, both top copyright leaders were gone. Todd Blanche was made the new Librarian of Congress, and Paul Perkins became the new Register of Copyrights. The office had to pause all copyright registrations, delaying around 20,000 applications for 12 business days. When they resumed, the certificates didn't have the usual signature from the Register. Officials said the signature wasn't legally needed. Dave Hansen from Authors Alliance said the situation was 'extremely weird', as mentioned by the Thar Tribune report. ALSO READ: Jeff Bezos' lavish wedding secrets leaked: Who made the cut, dress designer and eye-popping price tag Lawsuit against Trump After being fired, Perlmutter sued President Trump. She says the president doesn't have the power to fire her because the Copyright Office is part of the legislative branch, not the executive branch. Her lawyers say this is a serious example of the president going too far and breaking the separation of powers. The White House replied using the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which says the president can remove certain federal officials. A judge already refused to stop the firing for now, but court hearings are coming in July, as per the Thar Tribune report. AI, artists, and big tech This all comes at a time when AI companies are being sued for stealing copyrighted work to train their models. OpenAI wants broader fair use rules. Elon Musk even supports an idea by Jack Dorsey to get rid of copyright laws completely, saying they don't work anymore. The AI report from the Copyright Office didn't fully support any side. It said human creativity is still the main thing that deserves copyright. It also rejected giving copyrights to things made only by machines. Earlier this year, Perlmutter wrote that copyright laws should only protect work with human creativity, according to the Thar Tribune report. Reactions and fallout People who worked with Perlmutter said she was fair, careful, and respected even by critics. Her careful approach in the AI report made her firing even more surprising. Democrats in Congress were very angry. Joe Morelle from New York said the firing was 'a brazen, unprecedented power grab.' Some believe the firing was political, to change copyright rules in favor of AI companies. Carla Hayden's firing added to the worry because she was a well-known, respected librarian. Inside the Copyright Office, things are now uncertain. Staff are working but don't feel clear on the leadership or direction, as stated by the Thar Tribune report. The sudden changes and weird timing made the office go from calm and quiet to full of confusion. The lawsuit will move ahead this summer, and the AI report may be used in many legal battles about fair use in AI. While courts and tech companies fight about AI, the Copyright Office itself is caught in a big power struggle, as per the reports. FAQs Q1. Why was Shira Perlmutter fired? Shira Perlmutter was fired right after releasing a detailed report on AI and copyright. Many believe it was politically motivated. Q2. What is the lawsuit against Trump about? Perlmutter says the president cannot fire her because the Copyright Office is part of Congress, not the White House.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Supercomputer shows black hole cracking neutron star in final explosive seconds
In a major breakthrough, scientists have simulated in unprecedented detail how a neutron star cracks just seconds before being swallowed by a black hole. The simulation, led by Caltech astrophysicist Elias Most, reveals how intense gravitational forces from the black hole begin to tear apart the neutron star's surface as the two objects spiral closer. The phenomenon fractures the crust violently, triggering quakes similar to massive earthquakes. "The neutron star's crust will crack open just like the ground in an earthquake," Most says. "The black hole's gravity first shears the surface, causing quakes in the star and the opening of rifts." Researchers found that this cracking sends powerful magnetic ripples, known as Alfvén waves, through the star's magnetosphere. These waves are strong enough to generate bursts of radio signals that could be detectable by telescopes, offering a potential warning sign of an imminent cosmic collision. This snapshot from a simulation shows a magnetized outflow of plasma launched following the merger of a black hole and a magnetized neutron star. Yoonsoo Kim/Caltech While earlier models had predicted such crustal fractures, this is the first time researchers have captured the full physics of the process in action. The simulation also offers the clearest prediction yet of what kind of electromagnetic flare might accompany the moment of rupture. "This goes beyond educated models for the phenomenon—it is an actual simulation that includes all the relevant physics taking place when the neutron star breaks like an egg," says co-author Katerina Chatziioannou, assistant professor of physics at Caltech and a William H. Hurt Scholar. The team used the Perlmutter supercomputer, one of the world's most powerful GPU-based systems, to perform the simulation. GPUs—better known for running AI programs and video games—enabled the researchers to solve the highly complex equations needed to simulate the interactions between matter, gravity, and magnetic fields in such violent cosmic events. These three panels are taken from a supercomputer simulation of a merger between a black hole (large black circle) and a neutron star (colored blob). The images, which move forward in time from left to right, show how the intense gravity of the black hole stretches the neutron star, before the black hole ultimately consumes it. Elias Most/Caltech The actual simulations take about four to five hours to run. Most and his team had been working on similar simulations for about two years using supercomputers without GPUs before they ran them on Perlmutter."That's what unlocked the problem," Most says. "With GPUs, suddenly, everything worked and matched our expectations. We just did not have enough computing power before to numerically model these highly complex physical systems in a sufficient detail." In a second simulation, also run on Perlmutter, the team explored what happens in the final instant after the neutron star is consumed. The results show the creation of monster shock waves, first predicted by co-author Andrei Beloborodov of Columbia University, racing outward from the site of the collision. A side view from a simulation of a "black hole pulsar." The yellow lines show where magnetic fields that are pointing in different directions meet up. Electric currents flow along this interface and heat up plasma, which takes on a characteristic "ballerina's skirt" geometry. Yoonsoo Kim/Caltech These strong waves could emit bursts of X-rays and gamma rays, adding another potential observational signal for astronomers. "It's like an ocean wave," Kim says. "The ocean is initially quiet, but as the waves come ashore, they steepen until they finally break. In our simulation, we can see the magnetic field waves break into a monster shock wave." The same simulation also points to the formation of a rare and short-lived phenomenon, called the black hole pulsar. For a fraction of a second after the merger, magnetic fields left over from the neutron star are expelled by the black hole as spinning magnetic winds. These winds mimic the telltale beams of a pulsar—a rapidly spinning neutron star that sends out light in narrow, repeating pulses—before quickly fading simulation is the first to show how the black hole pulsar could actually form in nature from the collision of a neutron star and black hole. "When the neutron star plunges into the black hole, the monster shock waves are launched," says Yoonsoo Kim, lead author of the second study. "After the star is sucked in, whipping winds are formed, creating the black hole pulsar. But the black hole cannot sustain its winds and will become quiet again within seconds." These findings open the door to identifying black hole–neutron star mergers using light-based observations. Until now, most such mergers have been detected through gravitational waves. But with simulations pointing to possible electromagnetic signals—such as radio bursts, X-rays, and gamma rays—astronomers may soon be able to observe these cosmic collisions with telescopes across the the future, the researchers hope to explore whether this same phenomenology extends to other types of binary systems. Both studies are published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nvidia, Dell announce major project to reshape AI
Nvidia, Dell announce major project to reshape AI originally appeared on TheStreet. I believe that the universe always keeps things in balance. For every positive thing, there is a negative, and vice versa. Imagine working as a teacher for a moment. The world has changed, and suddenly everyone has access to artificial intelligence. Are your students using ChatGPT to do their homework? Absolutely. Would you like to be in that teacher's shoes? I know I wouldn't. What if this AI revolution turns out to be a tragedy like the use of leaded petrol, which is suspected to have lowered the IQ of Americans born in the 1960s and 1970s? While AI advances could potentially extinguish future scientific minds, today's scientists use powerful computers to deliver scientific breakthroughs. Google's AlphaFold, a program for protein structure prediction, had already made breakthroughs in 2018 before the advent of agentic AI. In 2024, its authors Demis Hassabis and John Jumper were awarded one-half of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the other half went to David Baker for his work on protein design. Baker wasn't doing his research on pen and paper either; he relied on the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center's Perlmutter supercomputer to do his work. Now, Dell is working on something for those for whom Perlmutter isn't good enough. Dell Technologies () released its earnings report for Q1 Fiscal 2026 on May 29. Here are some of the highlights: Revenue of $23.4 billion, up 5% year over year Operating income of $1.2 billion, up 21% YoY Diluted EPS of $1.37, flat YoY, 'We achieved first-quarter record servers and networking revenue of $6.3 billion, and we're experiencing unprecedented demand for our AI-optimized servers. We generated $12.1 billion in AI orders this quarter alone, surpassing the entirety of shipments in all of FY25 and leaving us with $14.4 billion in backlog," stated Jeff Clarke, vice chairman and chief operating officer of Dell. Most of that backlog consists of complex systems built using Nvidia () Blackwell Dell is leaning heavily on Nvidia, Nvidia is looking for ways to minimize losses caused by new government policies that require a license to export its H20 chip to China. As TheStreet's Samuel O'Brient reports, Nvidia could not ship an additional $2.5 billion worth of H20 products during Q1 because of the restrictions. On top of that, Nvidia expects the H20 licensing requirement to result in an $8 billion revenue hit during Q2. Nvidia's guidance is for roughly $45 billion in sales in the second quarter. On May 29, Nvidia and Dell announced Doudna, a supercomputer for NERSC, a U.S. Department of Energy user facility at Berkeley Lab. It is set to launch in 2026 and is named for Nobel laureate and CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna. According to Nvidia, Doudna is expected to outperform its predecessor, Perlmutter, by more than 10x in scientific output, all while using just 2-3x the power. It will be powered by NVIDIA's next-generation Vera Rubin chips.'I'm so proud that America continues to invest in this particular area,' stated NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang. 'It is the foundation of scientific discovery for our country. It is also the foundation for economic and technology leadership.' More Nvidia: Analysts issue rare warning on Nvidia stock before key earnings Analysts double price target of new AI stock backed by Nvidia Nvidia CEO shares blunt message on China chip sales ban Unlike conventional systems, Doudna merges simulation, data, and AI into a single seamless platform, built for real-time discovery. 'We're not just building a faster computer,' stated Nick Wright, advanced technologies group lead and Doudna chief architect at NERSC. 'We're building a system that helps researchers think bigger and discover sooner.' Doudna includes support for scalable quantum algorithm development and the co-design of future integrated quantum high-performance computing systems. Research teams, working on climate models and particle physics, are already porting full workflows to Doudna. Nvidia seems to be finding ways to recoup the revenue losses created by the new regulations, as Huang recently hinted at the possibility of greater partnership with Tesla and Dell announce major project to reshape AI first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 3, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 3, 2025, where it first appeared. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
