Gaza Aid, Oppenheimer, and Robot Recycling

Gaza Port Plans

The first US military vessel carrying construction supplies to build a temporary dock along the Gazan coast set off from Virginia Saturday, headed toward the Middle East. It marks the first step of a plan to directly deliver humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, announced by President Joe Biden during Thursday's State of the Union. 

Reports suggest it may take as long as two months and involve as many as 1,000 troops to get to operational status. The territory currently has no functioning port, making ocean delivery of aid nearly impossible, and ground-based deliveries have become increasingly dangerous. Western nations have resorted to airdropping aid into high-population areas. The structure is expected to be a floating pier capable of unloading 2 million meals per day.

International groups have said large swaths of the nearly 2.3 million people in Gaza face starvation. The effort comes as many Muslims begin observing the holy month of Ramadan (see overview). 

See updates on the war here. 

'Oppenheimer's' Big Night

"Oppenheimer" was the big winner at the 2024 Academy Awards (also known as the Oscars, see overview here) last night, taking home the ceremony's top prize of best picture. The film also nabbed six other awards, including best actor (Cillian Murphy), best supporting actor (Robert Downey Jr.), and best director (Christopher Nolan). "Oppenheimer" (see overview and backstory) had been up for 13 Oscars in all.

The other big winner of the night was "Poor Things," which took home four Oscars, including best actress (Emma Stone). Da’Vine Joy Randolph won best supporting actress for "The Holdovers." Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” was shutout after entering the night with 10 nominations. See the full list of winners here. 

See also the biggest moments of the night here, including John Cena's minimal attire while presenting best costume design. For those who opted into wardrobe, see best fashion from the red carpet. 

Altman Cements Control

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman formally rejoined the company's board of directors four months after he was temporarily booted from the company during a chaotic five-day period that stunned Silicon Valley. A third-party probe concluded Friday found no wrongdoing on Altman's part that would have justified his removal. 

Altman helped launch OpenAI—now considered one of the most powerful forces in AI—in 2015 as a nonprofit (see history). A for-profit arm was established in 2019, with the company becoming a household name with the 2022 release of ChatGPT. Technically still under the direction of its nonprofit board, OpenAI is now valued at around $80B. 

Altman was pushed from his board seat and CEO position in November, with the board generally alluding to behaviors clashing with its nonprofit mission (while offering few specifics). Observers say Altman emerged from the drama with significantly more control over the company.

Separately, OpenAI responded to a lawsuit by now-departed cofounder Elon Musk over its departure from open-source research. See an overview here.

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