Thursday☕️

Time Is Money

Sep 26, 2024 • 6 min read

Trending:

OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode
Caroline Ellison FTX Sentencing

Markets:

Yesterday’s U.S. stock market:

Yesterday’s commodity market:

Yesterday’s crypto market:

OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode:

OpenAI has rolled out Advanced Voice Mode (AVM) to ChatGPT Plus and Team users, improving the platform's voice interaction capabilities. The new feature introduces five new voices—Arbor, Maple, Sol, Spruce, and Vale—designed to create a more natural and human-like conversation experience. These voices adapt fluidly to the user's tone, pauses, and conversational flow, making exchanges with ChatGPT feel more seamless and intuitive. This upgrade is particularly useful for users engaging in creative brainstorming or collaborative discussions, where real-time voice interaction is essential.
Alongside the enhanced voices, AVM integrates Custom Instructions and Memory features. Custom Instructions allow users to specify preferences for how ChatGPT responds, making interactions more tailored and relevant to their needs. The Memory feature enables the AI to remember important details from past conversations, such as user preferences and project information, ensuring more coherent and consistent interactions over time. This makes AVM a highly personalized and adaptable tool for long-term projects or ongoing collaborations.
In addition to improved voice interactions, AVM enhances ChatGPT's integration with other tools, such as DALL·E, Code Interpreter, and the Browser tool. Users can issue voice commands to generate images, analyze data, or conduct web searches in real time. For example, during a brainstorming session, users can verbally request DALL·E to create visual representations of their ideas, expanding the potential of ChatGPT beyond just conversational support into areas of creative problem-solving and research.
The new design of AVM includes a visual indicator—a blue animated circle that signals when the AI is listening or speaking—making interactions more intuitive for users. While the feature is currently available to Plus and Team users, Enterprise and Educational customers are set to gain access next week. However, AVM is not yet available in some regions, including the EU and UK. Overall, OpenAI's AVM is a powerful tool, combining voice interaction with advanced customization, memory, and multimodal capabilities, making it a versatile solution for both individuals and teams.

Caroline Ellison FTX Sentencing:

Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, has been sentenced to two years in prison for her involvement in the financial fraud that led to the collapse of FTX, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Ellison played a key role in exposing the fraudulent activities orchestrated by her former boyfriend and boss, Sam Bankman-Fried, who used customer funds from FTX to cover debts and risky investments made by Alameda Research. Ellison’s testimony was instrumental in Bankman-Fried’s conviction, where he received a 25-year prison sentence. As part of her sentence, Ellison was ordered to forfeit $11 billion.
During the sentencing, Ellison expressed deep remorse for her actions, tearfully apologizing to the investors and customers affected by the collapse of FTX. She admitted to mismanaging funds and contributing to one of the biggest financial frauds in history. Her cooperation with authorities, which was described as "extraordinary," played a significant role in helping prosecutors present crucial evidence against Bankman-Fried, including the misuse of customer funds. However, the judge made it clear that while her testimony was invaluable, it did not absolve her of responsibility for her role in the scheme. Ellison is expected to surrender to a low-security prison after November 7, 2024.
Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been sentenced to 25 years in prison, has since appealed his conviction. His legal team argues that the recovery of customer funds undermines the prosecution’s case. Following the collapse of FTX in November 2022, over $11 billion in customer funds were reported missing, sparking panic and allegations of fraud. However, since then, the team managing FTX’s bankruptcy has recovered over $16 billion in assets, including cash and cryptocurrencies that were initially believed to be lost. Bankman-Fried’s defense argues that these recoveries suggest that FTX was not insolvent at the time of its collapse, claiming that the jury was misled about the financial state of the company.
The recovery of these funds has become a central point in Bankman-Fried’s appeal. His legal team contends that this new financial information was not adequately presented during the trial, which may have influenced the jury’s decision to convict him. Despite these claims, prosecutors maintain that the fraud was evident, with billions of customer dollars mismanaged and funneled into Alameda Research. As the legal proceedings continue, both Ellison and Bankman-Fried’s roles in the collapse of FTX remain a focal point in one of the most significant financial scandals in recent history.

Statistic: