Sam Altman ‘looking forward’ to return to OpenAI; Jeremy Hunt expected to cut taxes – business live

The Times’s Steven Swinford has posted a list of expected measures in the autumn statement.

Significantly, this suggests Hunt is expected to announce that benefits will rise by 6.7% – in line with September’s inflation reading, as usual.

There were concerns that ministers would use the lower October inflation figure of 4.6% instead, cutting the benefits bill by up to £3bn.

Darren Jones, shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, says the Labour party welcomes the suggestion there will be tax cuts for working people in today’s autumn statement.

Jones told Sky News:

We’ve been calling for that, in the Labour party, for some time.

But he adds that, on average, people are paying £4,000 per year more tax under the Conservatives, so “a couple of hundred quid off” is good, but won’t make too much difference.

The Verge are reporting that OpenAI’s new board (Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo) will vet and appoint an expanded board of up to 9 people that will reset the governance of OpenAI.

They add:

Microsoft, which has invested over $10 billion into the company, wants to have a seat on that expanded board, as does Altman himself.

B&Q owner Kingfisher has cut its profit outlook again, as demand in France continues to wane.

It’s the second earnings downgrade from Kingfisher in under three months.

Kingfisher, which runs the Castorama and Brico Depot chains in France, says that French market trends are weaker than expected.

It told shareholders:

We continue to take decisive cost actions in France, more than offsetting the impact of inflation.

However, given continued market weakness, this is not sufficient to offset the impact of lower sales in this region.

However, sales in the UK and Ireland have remained “resilient” – an encouraging sign for the economy.

Kingfisher now expects full-year underlying group pre-tax profits of around £560m. In September, it had cut its guidance in September to about £590m, down from an original forecast of £634m.

Update: Kingfisher’s shares have dropped 6.8% in early trading.

Sam Altman’s dramatic return to OpenAI shows that the company realised it faced an “existential moment”, says Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown:

The Open AI hokey cokey dance has taken another twist – with Sam Altman, in, out and then apparently back in again. The chaos at Open AI has shaken up the industry. It’s even prompted Microsoft’s CEO to declare that Microsoft was self-sufficient and would continue to excel even if Open AI disappeared tomorrow.

Given the call to arms by staff and threats of a mass exodus if Altman was not brought back, the company clearly realised it risked an existential moment. The root of the dispute is thought to be a conflict between the speed of growth and safety concerns surrounding intelligent bots.

Given he’s walked back through the revolving door, Sam Altman’s views about how to run the company will dominate future direction, especially given he’ll be supervised under a new board.

Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, says he’s encouraged by the shake-up of OpenAI’s board (with Salesforce chief executive Bret Taylor and former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers joining).

Posting on X, Nadella says:

We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board.

We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance. Sam, Greg, and I have talked and agreed they have a key role to play along with the OAI leadership team in ensuring OAI continues to thrive and build on its mission.

We look forward to building on our strong partnership and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners.

Emmett Shear, who had been appointed as OpenAI’s interim CEO just two days ago, says he’s “deeply pleased” that Altman is returning to the CEO’s seat.

Greg Brockman, who resigned from OpenAI after Sam Altman’s shock dismissal last week, says he is also returning to the company:

Brockman had also agreed to join Microsoft on Monday, with Altman.

Altman: i’m looking forward to returning to OpenAI, and building on strong partnership with Microsoft

Sam Altman to return as OpenAI CEO

Rachel Reeves, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, has declared that the Conservative Party have become the “party of high tax”.

Speaking ahead of today’s autumn statement, Reeves says:

“After thirteen years of economic failure under the Conservatives, working people are worse off. Prices are still rising in the shops, energy bills are up and mortgage payments are higher after the Conservatives crashed the economy.

“The 25 Tory tax rises since 2019 are the clearest sign of economic failure, with households paying £4,000 more in tax each year than they did in 2010. The Conservatives have become the party of high tax because they are the party of low growth. Nothing the Chancellor says or does in his Autumn Statement can change their appalling record.

“Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, the Labour Party has changed. Labour is now the party of fiscal responsibility, we are the party of business and we are the only party with a plan to make working people better off.”

Here’s a breakdown of what to expect from Jeremy Hunt today:

Introduction: Tax cuts expected in autumn statement