The daily business briefing: November 22, 2023

1. Sam Altman to return to OpenAI

Sam Altman has agreed to return to ChatGPT-maker OpenAI after his firing last week by the company's board triggered a revolt by employees and investors, who demanded his return as CEO. Former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor will lead a board replacing the one that fired Altman. The drama exposed a power struggle between Altman, who has been the face of the rapid commercialization of generative artificial intelligence, and board members concerned about AI's safety risks. After his firing, Altman had agreed to lead a team at OpenAI backer Microsoft. He now says he will return to OpenAI and work on "building on our strong partnership" with the software giant. The Washington Post, The Associated Press

2. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleads guilty, resigns

Changpeng Zhao, founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, pleaded guilty to money laundering charges on Tuesday. He will pay a $50 million fine and resign as CEO as part of a deal with the U.S. Justice Department. Prosecutors are seeking an 18-month prison sentence. Binance itself also pleaded guilty in the case and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines and restitution. The company also agreed to let the government appoint a monitor to oversee its operations. Zhao won't be able to have any involvement in the company until the monitor has been on the job three years. "Binance became the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in part because of the crimes it committed," Attorney General Merrick Garland said. The New York Times, Bloomberg

3. Nvidia beats expectations but stock struggles

Nvidia reported third-quarter earnings after the bell Tuesday that smashed expectations as the artificial intelligence boom fueled demand for its advanced chips. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $4.02 compared to the $3.36 expected by analysts, according to Bloomberg. Revenue reached $18.1 billion, beating expectations of $16.1 billion and marking a 206% increase over a year earlier. But the chipmaker's shares fell more than 1% in after-hours trading after the company said new restrictions on advanced-chip sales to China could hurt future results. Yahoo Finance

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4. Stock futures edge up before Thanksgiving break

U.S. stock futures were little changed early Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving break. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat at 6:45 a.m. ET. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were up 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively. The Dow and the S&P 500 fell 0.2% on Tuesday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.6%. The declines tested a November rally fueled by cooling inflation that heightened hopes that the Federal Reserve wouldn't need to raise interest rates again this year to slow the economy. Newly released minutes from the Fed's latest meeting indicated that policy makers weren't ready to stop raising rates altogether, but they might hold rates steady the rest of the year. CNBC, The Wall Street Journal

5. Buffett gives $866 million to family charities

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has donated about $866 million more of his Berkshire Hathaway stock to four family charities, the company said in a regulatory filing. Buffett gave 1.5 million shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, a charity named for his late first wife that works in reproductive health. He also donated 900,000 shares to be divided among his children's charities. Buffett gave away $759 million of Berkshire stock at this time last year. In a rare letter to shareholders, Buffett repeated his pledge to give more than 99% of his wealth to charities and said the company had a solid succession plan in place. "At 93, I feel good but fully realize I am playing in extra innings," he said in the letter. Reuters