Sam Altman Returns to OpenAI, Nvidia Earnings Get AI Boost, Oil Slumps on OPEC+ Meeting Delay 11/22/23

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

What do you see on the horizon? Uncertainty or opportunity? Whatever you see at PGM, we can help you rise to the challenges of today. When active investing and disciplined risk management are needed most. Drawing on deep expertise across the world's public and private markets in pursuit of long-term returns.

Our investments shape tomorrow, today. Pursue your tomorrow with PGM, a leading global asset manager.

Jim Cramer (0:31)

It's Jim Cramer here. You're listening to the opening bell of CNBC's Squawk on the Street. Don't miss a minute of the action.

Carl Quintanilla (0:38)

Good Wednesday morning. Welcome to Squawk on the Street. I'm Carl Quintanilla with David Faber, Sara Eisen at Post 9 of the New York Stock Exchange. Cramer has the morning off. Final session before the holiday, but a busy one for news. Sam Altman back at OpenAI, got a ceasefire in Gaza, oils down nearly 5% on news of the Zopec meeting delay.

Ten-year got below 437 Our roadmap begins with AI. Sam Altman is heading back to a revamped OpenAI while NVIDIA continues to ride the AI chip boom while also tempering its China outlook.

David Faber (1:06)

Plus US crude oil is tumbling below 75 bucks a barrel. This is Zopec delays its upcoming meeting. Talks reportedly hitting a snag over deciding dissatisfaction with other members' oil production levels.

Sara Eisen (1:18)

And deer shares are under pressure. Sales worries linger as profit outlook disappoints.

Carl Quintanilla (1:24)

Let's begin with the Sam Altman, OpenAI. ChatGPT's parents says it has reached an agreement in principle for Altman to return to the company as CEO with a new initial board consisting of former Salesforce co-CEO, Bret Taylor, his chair, former treasury secretary, Larry Summers, and Quora CEO, Adam D'Angelo. Microsoft Sacha Nadella says he's encouraged by the changes to the board. And after referencing his decision to join Microsoft in a post on X, Altman added quote, with the new board and with Sacha's support, I'm looking forward to returning to OpenAI and building on our strong partnership with Microsoft. Some reporting, guys, that Altman has agreed to at least an internal investigation surrounding the circumstances that led to his initial exit. Still a lot of questions about that and to what degree this has a blow to OpenAI that will last.

David Faber (2:14)

It's not clear it's gonna last anymore if in fact they keep the employees and go back to what they were focused on with the same person at the helm.

Obviously Microsoft comes out looking pretty good. And Nadella played this very well, it would seem. I mean, either the prospect of Altman and Brockman joining Microsoft and hiring a lot of those employees who work with them at OpenAI or I think what was preferred scenario was the one in which he goes back and things kind of go on the way they were with a different board. And that I think is the key here. You had members of that board, you know, whose instincts were very different than Altman's and that seems to have been where a lot of the conflict arose. Although again, we still have not gotten any specifics in terms of what was done or not done that they felt was particularly harmful to the company. As you take a look at the new members of the board, Sara, I mean, those are more in the capitalist realm of things and perhaps effective altruists as a number of the other board members were. I can't fully explain Summers.

I know he's not close to Sam Altman, is my understanding. So I'm not sure where or how his name got on there.

Sara Eisen (3:27)

He's the adult in the room. One of the foremost economists in the country was the former Treasury Secretary, under Bill Clinton. Ran Harvard. Also has been on boards before and has been a proponent of sorts of AI. Went back and looked at his tweets in the past. In April, he tweeted more and more, I think ChatGPT is coming for the cognitive class, predicting it'll change the way we work.

And that is certainly an economic issue for OpenAI and ChatGPT to figure out.

He said it's coming for the financial traders, the doctors, the authors and the editors, white collar professionals likely to see more disruption than those who do manual labor, was the Summers' view there on that. And then, of course, Bret Taylor, who was the chair, short time, one year chair of Twitter's board before it sold to Elon Musk and, of course, co-CEO with Mark Benioff of Salesforce has also been sort of front and center in these negotiations, as has been reported. Larry Summers, I think, more of the surprise. And then the third one is the guy who was there before, the Quora founder.