What I Read This Week...

OpenAI ousts Sam Altman, donors flee elite universities, antibiotic startups file for bankruptcy, inflation comes in cool...

Subscribe to @chamath on X

Watch All-In E154

Caught my eye…

• OpenAI ousts co-founder Sam Altman as CEO, citing issues in communications with the company’s board. According to the company's official statement, the board “no longer has confidence in Altman’s ability to continue leading OpenAI.” Mira Murati, currently the Chief Technology Officer at OpenAI, will take over as interim CEO.

• The University of Austin Texas (UATX) is gaining traction among donors disenchanted with ‘elite’ universities' responses to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, and antisemitism on student campuses. UATX positions itself as an alternative to traditional liberal academia, focused on civil discourse and intellectual risk-taking.

• All six antibiotic startups that won FDA approval since 2017 have filed for bankruptcy, been acquired, or shut down. New antibiotics face a critical challenge: they must be used rarely and briefly to prevent bacterial resistance, but cannot command the prices necessary to accommodate for reduced volume as they compete in a market accustomed to inexpensive generics.

• U.S. consumer prices remained unchanged in October, marking the smallest annual rise in underlying inflation in two years. This development, driven by lower gasoline prices and continued goods deflation, led to lower U.S. Treasury yields and a stock market rally as investors speculate that the Federal Reserve may be finished with its hiking cycle.

Other reading…

• Weight-loss Drugs are the Next Startup Platform Shift (Axios)

• It’s Time to End Magical Thinking About Russia’s Defeat (WSJ)

• China Will Be At Forefront of AI, Alphabet’s Pichai Says (Bloomberg)

• How Osama bin Laden’s ‘Letter to America’ Reached Millions Online (Washington Post)

• Britain is the New Capital of Anti-Israel Hate (Telegraph)

• Xi Jinping Tells U.S. CEOs: China Won't Fight Cold or Hot War With Anyone (Bloomberg)

On X…