Thanks for joining me. The tech sector is in focus today as pressure grows on X chief executive Linda Yaccarino to resign over concerns about its founder Elon Musk and antisemitic content.
As friends and executives reportedly urge her to leave to save her own reputation, elsewhere in Silicon Valley there is drama at ChatGPT developer OpenAi.
Sam Altman will not make a dramatic return to the business he co-founded following his dramatic ousing on Friday, after the board if OpenAi hired Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear as interim chief executive.
5 things to start your day
1) ChatGPT creator hires new chief after Sam Altman sacking | Sam Altman, the founder of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, will reportedly not return to the company as chief executive.
2) Brexit has boosted UK wages, say economists | Drop in EU immigration has given British workers better bargaining power
3) Hunt to launch ‘moonshot’ quantum supercomputing programme in Autumn Statement | The groundbreaking technology can break encryption systems used by armed forces and banks
4) Fund backed by Abu Dhabi in line to own The Telegraph within weeks | Senior Tories have called for the Government to intervene over public interest and national security concerns
5) Starmer turns to City spinner with links to Gordon Brown to broker pre-election FTSE summit | The public relations company hosted a similar meeting with Boris Johnson in 2019
What happened overnight
OpenAI has reportedly hired the co-founder of video streaming service Twitch as its interim-chief executive days after the dramatic sacking of billionaire boss Sam Altman.
Emmett Shear was the second appointment to the role in three days after chief technology officer Mira Murati was initially appointed on Friday afternoon.
Mr Shear’s hiring, reported by the Financial Times, followed the surprise ousting of OpenAi’s co-founder Mr Altman, which triggered a flood of support from investors and employees for the man who set up the company in 2015 and has led it 2019.
Meanwhile, Asian shares were higher after Wall Street closed its third straight winning week with a tiny gain.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index broke its September peak, hitting a 33-year high, and then fell to 33,388.03, shedding 0.6pc.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 1.5pc to 17,719.07, and the Shanghai Composite index advanced 0.4pc to 3,066.85.
China announced on Monday that it would keep its benchmark lending rates unchanged as expected due to a weaker yuan and the need to assess the impact of recent stimulus measures on the economy.
In South Korea, the Kospi was 1pc higher, at 2,495.60. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1pc higher to 7,058.40. Taiwan’s Taiex was little changed. The SET in Bangkok gained 0.2pc as the state planning agency announced Monday that Thailand’s economy grew slower than expected in the last quarter due to weakness in exports and agriculture, despite strong consumer spending and a recovery in tourism.
On Friday, the S&P 500 edged up 0.1pc to 4,514.02 and is near its highest level in three months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up less than 0.1pc to 34,947.28 and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.1pc to 14,125.48.
