Latest news with #Sete
Malay Mail
5 hours ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
From fishing family to Big Tech: French CEO Fidji Simo joins OpenAI as second-in-command
NEW YORK, June 13 — At just 39 years old, Fidji Simo is poised to become OpenAI's second-in-command after leaving her mark at two other major tech firms, including Meta. Reporting directly to CEO Sam Altman, the move to the ChatGPT-maker represents the latest chapter in a career that has taken Simo from a fishing family in France's Mediterranean port of Sete to the heights of Silicon Valley. As the current CEO of grocery delivery platform Instacart, she cuts a unique profile: a French woman in the male-dominated American tech landscape — who resists advice to blend in. 'I can put all my energy trying to be someone else or I can be myself and pour all of that energy into what I can create,' she told CNBC in February. This philosophy will likely be on display when she appears yesterday at the VivaTech conference in Paris. Raised in Sete, Simo attended the elite HEC business school before joining eBay in 2006, first in France then in California. 'People expect a very business-like story for why I decided to come to the US. It wasn't. The American Dream was on TV every night and that was an incredibly appealing thing,' she said. 'Never Intimidated' In 2011, Simo joined Facebook, now Meta. She was given responsibility for video and monetisation in 2014, a role she considers the defining moment of her career. Simo championed the company's pivot to video, which became central to Meta's strategy despite initial internal skepticism. 'She never let herself be intimidated,' recalled David Marcus, who worked at Meta alongside Simo and now serves as CEO of online payment company Lightspark. 'She had an ability to challenge Mark (Zuckerberg) and push him, when others would have hesitated.' Joining Instacart in 2021, Simo inherited a company that had been bleeding money for a decade. Under her leadership, the grocery delivery platform achieved profitability in 2022 through aggressive diversification: data monetisation, expanded retail partnerships and a robust advertising business. Now Simo faces her biggest test yet. As OpenAI's number two, she'll free up CEO Altman to focus on research and infrastructure while she tackles the company's operational challenges. Despite being one of history's most highly funded startups and ChatGPT's phenomenal success, OpenAI is burning cash at an alarming rate. The company has also weathered significant leadership turnover, including Altman's own brief ouster and reinstatement in 2023, raising questions about management stability. But French investor Julien Codorniou, who worked alongside Simo at Facebook, said she will more than rise to the occasion. 'Fidji's arrival is a declaration of ambition by OpenAI,' he said. — AFP
IOL News
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- IOL News
K. O discusses his musical evolution and the message behind 'Phara City'
K.O's new album "Phara City' is currently out on all major music streaming platforms. Image: Instagram. South African hip hop icon K.O recently joined host Nandi Madida on Africa Now Radio to discuss his new 14 track album, "Phara City", which released today, Friday, June 13. K.O shared his motivations behind the timing of this album release, which he believes carries a profound significance in the current socio-political climate of South Africa. "I think the age where I'm at right now, I don't only just want to be remembered as a dope rapper ... I now want to be even more intentional, especially in the climate that we are subjected to as a country right now," said the multi-award-winning rapper. "I don't want to shy away from the fact that there are socio-economic issues that we are growing up under and whether we want to mask them and hide those things from the rest of the world or not, they are a reality." Diving into the essence of "Phara", K.O explained: "Phara is basically a thug, I'm going to use the word loosely, why??, because Tupac came and he owned this thing called 'Thug Life'. That entire mentality he talked about is not only just the unflattering things, it describes a background that is both positive and negative. "Pharas are largely outcasts within society, people that are actually ostracised. But if you think about it, a Phara is not only that person in today's South Africa," said the "Sete" hitmaker. Furthermore, he expressed a deeper ambition with this album: "I'm just throwing it out there in a very lighthearted manner where I'm taking that overly negative stench on the word itself ... It's me putting the mirror to the ordinary South African to say, 'You know what? This is your world. Do you agree?' And these are conversations and topics that I am presenting to us (and myself) through music." Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Award-winning rapper, K.O. Image: Instagram. His new single "Supernova", featuring renowned artist Casper Nyovest, is marked by its ambitious sampling of Lebo Mathosa's legendary 'I Love Music'. K.O recounted the meticulous process of securing permission for the sample, describing it as nearly 'blasphemous'. "Just the idea of sampling a song like that is near blasphemous, but we actually went out of our way to mirror the quality of the original. "We had to present this to Lebo Mathosa's estate and try and find all those composers and all the contributors who were part of the original, just to clear the sample. It was a needle in a haystack type of mission, but we eventually got it over the line! If you do touch something like this, you have to give it more than justice." On the topic of collaborations featured in "Phara City", K.O stressed the significance of intentional partnerships in creating a cohesive project. "It wasn't easy, and it takes patience as well. When you know what you want and the people that compliment the vision, the best way that you feel, you'll pursue as much as you possibly can and then see it through. "People don't know some of these things that are happening behind the scenes to get the music that they actually end up hearing! These things are in the making or in the works for months, but I think what I always try to do is to give the product a fighting chance. And I think by the collaborations that I go for, I always want to put the song first." He explained his philosophy of prioritising the song over his own contributions: "I could easily do everything on the record, make the beat and do the verse myself. But what if there's a certain emotion that someone else could bring to the table to take this thing way beyond where my natural potential was going to take it? So that's why you're seeing that line-up of all those individuals that are on there."
Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
From fishing family to Big Tech, French CEO takes on Silicon Valley
Joining Instacart in 2021, Fidji Simo inherited a company that had been bleeding money for a decade. (Getty Images pic) NEW YORK : At just 39 years old, Fidji Simo is poised to become OpenAI's second-in-command after leaving her mark at two other major tech firms, including Meta. Reporting directly to CEO Sam Altman, the move to the ChatGPT-maker represents the latest chapter in a career that has taken Simo from a fishing family in France's Mediterranean port of Sete to the heights of Silicon Valley. As the current CEO of grocery delivery platform Instacart, she cuts a unique profile, a French woman in the male-dominated American tech landscape, who resists advice to blend in. 'I can put all my energy trying to be someone else, or I can be myself and pour all of that energy into what I can create,' she told CNBC in February. This philosophy will likely be on display when she appears today at the VivaTech conference in Paris. Raised in Sete, Simo attended the elite HEC business school before joining eBay in 2006, first in France then in California. 'People expect a very business-like story for why I decided to come to the US. It wasn't. The American Dream was on TV every night and that was an incredibly appealing thing,' she said. 'Never Intimidated' In 2011, Simo joined Facebook, now Meta. She was given responsibility for video and monetisation in 2014, a role she considers the defining moment of her career. Simo championed the company's pivot to video, which became central to Meta's strategy despite initial internal skepticism. 'She never let herself be intimidated,' recalled David Marcus, who worked at Meta alongside Simo and now serves as CEO of online payment company Lightspark. 'She had an ability to challenge Mark (Zuckerberg) and push him, when others would have hesitated,' Marcus said. Joining Instacart in 2021, Simo inherited a company that had been bleeding money for a decade. Under her leadership, the grocery delivery platform achieved profitability in 2022 through aggressive diversification, including data monetisation, expanded retail partnerships and a robust advertising business. Now Simo faces her biggest test yet. As OpenAI's number two, she'll free up CEO Altman to focus on research and infrastructure while she tackles the company's operational challenges. Despite being one of history's most highly funded startups and ChatGPT's phenomenal success, OpenAI is burning cash at an alarming rate. The company has also weathered significant leadership turnover, including Altman's own brief ouster and reinstatement in 2023, raising questions about management stability. But French investor Julien Codorniou, who worked alongside Simo at Facebook, said she will more than rise to the occasion. 'Fidji's arrival is a declaration of ambition by OpenAI,' he said.
The Citizen
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
K.O on the country's issues and owning the ‘goat' tag
K.O. spoke to The Citizen just days before the release of his fifth studio album as a solo artist, Phara City. K.O spoke to The Citizen about his upcoming fifth studio album. Picture: mrcashtime/Instagram Compared to his contemporaries, rapper KO is a modest fella. He doesn't fully own up to the Greatest Of All Time (Goat) tag that's always bestowed on him by his fans. 'This is something that people are actually pushing me towards and actually owning up to,' the soft-spoken rapper tells The Citizen. ALSO READ: K.O finally gets his Metro FM award in his home province K.O owning the G.O.A.T tag 2025 marks K.O.'s 19th anniversary in the industry. He stared out as a member of the rap trio Teargas, which, in its own right, had an impact on the country and was part of watershed moments in South African hip hop through collaborations with other artists. He ticks the longevity box; his music has had an impact outside of the hip-hop community through songs such as Sete and Caracara, and his calibre as a rapper is of a high standard. 'If we're narrowing the conversation down to things like that, definitely, I start owning up to who I am in the space.' He says he was more concerned with making good music than comparing himself to others. 'All these things [his accolades], I was more focused on just doing great things rather than looking at the score board to say, hey, am I in the top five, where am I now?' Real name Ntokozo Mdluli, KO spoke to The Citizen just days before the release of his fifth studio album as a solo artist, Phara City. ALSO READ: REVIEW: Riky Rick's last album 'Boss Zonke Forever' epitomises his passion for young people Phara City The term 'phara' or sometimes spelt as 'para' can be defined as a homeless person who lives off their hustle on the streets. Some definitions describe a phara as a person who has a home but overcomes life's harsh environment through his hustle on the street. 'Yes, it says Phara City and some people might think I'm talking about Joburg, but I'm actually talking about the country as a whole,' shares K.O. K.O says South Africa has become an environment where a phara would only survive. 'Unfortunately, it [South Africa] has become almost like a Sodom and Gomorrah in real time because we see all kinds of things,' shares K.O. South Africa is one of the most unequal nations in the world, with a high unemployment rate and a country that fails to protect its most vulnerable. 'The country has been tarnished on the world stage, in terms of how people perceive who we are as a country, our politics. 'Even internally, as citizens, there are so many things we're critiquing- the lack of leadership, corruption, illegal immigrants,' says K.O., sharing the thought behind the album concept. The 13-track album will be released on Friday. Some of the standout songs from the project include Cross Night and No Chorus. On the latter, K.O. shows off his bravado as a rapper, basically giving the middle finger to his competitors. Through the album, K.O. says he is holding a mirror up to the country's face for reflection. However, despite his criticism, K.O. also shows the celebratory side of South Africa. 'We still celebrate, we still party, we still fall in love, we still hustle and continue with life even outside of these challenges that we are subjected to. I talk about that side of things.' ALSO READ: 'Their win is South Africa's win': Deputy Minister Peace Mabe celebrates TxC's BET award K.O's collaborative nature K.O. has something that very few artists have: a collaborative spirit. Even at the height of the AKA and Cassper Nyovest beef, K.O. still managed to work with both artists. 'I've never been one who's confrontational, I've always just stood my ground,' says K.O. He also demonstrated that he isn't an ageist, being open to working with younger artists like Blxckie and Maglera Doe Boy. This is both a business move and something natural to him. He provides an example of how brands like Adidas can collaborate with other fashion brands, such as Gucci. 'As an artist, you need to go and do things with other artists, because you get to introduce yourself to their following and vice-versa,' he says. Some of K.O.'s memorable work has been a collaborative effort. From his most recent hit Sete with Young Stunna and Blxckie to 2014's Skhanda Love with Nandi Mngoma and Caracara with Kid X. On his 2017 album SR2, he collaborated with House music producer Black Coffee on SA Rising. 'I think it's beautiful when we see people who've shaped society together because we get to send the right vibrations to the rest of the people.' ALSO READ: Amapiano vocalist Thatohatsi loses voice due to 'unexpected' illness K.O's music taste His openness to working with others also reflects his musical taste. When asked what he's been listening to recently, he mentions genres like Afrobeat and R&B. 'I have a very wide and broad sense of musical taste because you'll find me one minute listening to Afrobeat, listening to Blxckie, listening to Summer Walker, R&B and go back and pull out some stuff from yesteryears,' he says. 'I've been listening to a lot of Frank Ocean this year and obviously some of the Kendrick stuff he's done…but I like a lot of R&B, like Leon Thomas.' He says he doesn't only listen for pleasure but also for inspiration. 'On this album [Phara City] I went as far back as listening to the very first Mase album because there was a certain bag that I was trying to get into, stylistically.' The Mase album is Harlem World, released in 1997. He says he captured this '90s hip-hop and R&B fusion on Phara City through his collaboration with Blaq Diamond on the song Phara Love. NOW READ: 'I'm not gonna lie, this is rocking me': Prince Kaybee opens up about health battle
