Threatening to quit

What began as a curious, largely unexplained announcement on Friday afternoon transformed over the weekend into a human resources firestorm. Sam Altman’s shocking departure as chief executive of OpenAI has led to almost all of his former employees threatening to quit and follow him to Microsoft. That is, they say, unless the current board of OpenAI—the one that showed Altman the door for not being “consistently candid”—resigns. More than 700 of OpenAI’s roughly 770 employees signed a letter to the board stating they are “unable to work for or with people that lack competence, judgment and care for our mission and employees.” So what is the kerfuffle really all about? At the heart of this Silicon Valley drama is a much bigger question than Altman’s next posting: it’s whether artificial intelligence should be looked upon as a commercial opportunity or as a potentially dangerous technology. There seems to be some disagreement. —Natasha Solo-Lyons and David E. Rovella

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Citigroup is eliminating more than 300 senior manager roles as part of Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser’s efforts to simplify the Wall Street giant, in part via employee terminations. The company started announcing the firings—which eliminate the jobs of people two levels below Fraser’s executive management team—on Monday. The dismissals amount to roughly 10% of the people working at that level.

The US stock market extended its powerful November rally on Monday. Traders have also been fixated on Treasury sales, especially after the US recently offered an unusually large premium to sell 30-year securities. Those auctions have been exerting a growing sway over stocks. Here’s your markets wrap.

Americans are increasingly tapping their retirement savings to cover housing and medical bills amid higher cost-of-living pressures, according to data released Monday from Fidelity Investments. Some 2.3% of workers took a hardship withdrawal last quarter, up from 1.8% a year earlier, the data showed. The top two reasons given for the uptick were to avoid foreclosure or eviction, and for medical expenses.

Far-right candidate Javier Milei’s victory in Argentina’s presidential election opens a new and uncertain chapter in the South American nation’s convoluted history. With inflation expected to exceed 180% by year’s end, slowing activity and no international reserves at the central bank, the risk of the economy spinning out of control is growing. Here are four key issues to watch.

The US Justice Department is seeking more than $4 billion from Binance Holdings as part of a proposed resolution of a years-long investigation into the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Elon Musk has now responded to widespread coverage and condemnation of his endorsement of antisemitic content on his social media platform, X. The actions by the billionaire, who has long drawn fire for promoting hate speech, triggered a series of departures by high-profile advertisers.

While threatening to move south where Palestinians have been forced to flee its bombing campaign, Israel said it has engaged in heavy fighting with Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip. Gaza health officials said more than 12,000 Palestinians, or 1 out of every 200 people in the Gaza Strip, have been killed. The US said it was optimistic about a deal to free some of the 200 hostages Israel says are being held by Hamas.

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While the jury is out on what long-term health consequences may flow from their use, that isn’t stopping millions of Americans from taking appetite suppressing injections in a bid to shed pounds. Corporate America meanwhile has been very concerned with the consequences—namely what happens to the food industry as more people take drugs that suppress hunger. The category includes Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, originally used as a diabetes treatment, and Wegovy, as well as Eli Lilly’s diabetes drug Mounjaro and its Zepbound, which got approved for weight-loss earlier this month. As the holidays arrive, what does this mean for the nation’s annual celebration of dining table-excess? This could end up being a Thanksgiving like no other.

The Bloomberg Canadian Finance Conference on Nov. 29 in New York brings together finance, government and business leaders from across various sectors to discuss advancements in their fields and how they are sustaining their leadership going forward. This year marks the eleventh anniversary of our Canada-focused event, and continues the tradition of providing timely, actionable insights and strategies for a global audience of leaders and decision-makers. Register here.