Author: NY TIMES

OpenAI said late Wednesday that it hired Fidji Simo, the chief executive of Instacart, to take on a new role running the artificial intelligence company’s business and operations teams.In a blog post, Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive, said he would remain in charge as the head of the company. But Ms. Simo’s appointment as chief executive of applications would free him up to focus on other parts of the organization, including research, computing and safety systems, he said.“We have become a global product company serving hundreds of millions of users worldwide and growing very quickly,” Mr. Altman said in the…

After weeks of confusion about his plans for autism research, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Wednesday that his department would build a “real-world platform” that would allow researchers to hunt for causes of the disorder by examining insurance claims, electronic medical records and wearable devices like smart watches.The department will draw the records from Medicare and Medicaid, which together cover around 40 percent of Americans. The National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will partner on the project, Mr. Kennedy said.But it was unclear whether the announcement would assuage researchers, advocates and…

Operas as concerts can be challenging, especially for a work with a four-hour running time, including two intermissions. Handel benefits from eye candy: flashy garb, elaborate scenery, routines with backup dancers — anything to keep hold of our attention. And yet if it’s not Baroque, don’t fix it. Carnegie was packed on Sunday, perhaps with people who just want good music performed well. The English Concert does that consistently.To write “Cesare,” Handel and the librettist Nicola Francesco Haym drew from fictionalized accounts of the end of Julius Caesar’s civil war. After defeating Pompeo, Cesare follows his rival to Egypt. Cesare…

For the second time in less than two weeks, a United States Navy fighter jet from the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman has been lost in the Red Sea.The jet was landing on the flight deck of the Truman on Tuesday when the aircraft’s arrestment system, which helps the aircraft stop on the runway, failed, “causing the aircraft to go overboard,” according to the United States Central Command.The two pilots aboard the plane, an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet worth at least $67 million, ejected and sustained minor injuries. They were rescued by a helicopter and no one else was…

So much is made of the fashion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit — otherwise known as the Met Gala — that it can be easy to forget the event is about more than clothes. It’s also a fund-raiser for the museum, which this year collected more money than ever since the gala began almost 80 years ago, as well as an opening party for new Costume Institute exhibitions. This year’s, called “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” is about the history and culture of Black dandyism.The dress code for the gala on Monday was “Tailored For You,” an…

The two sisters brought with them a chocolate cake from the nearby grocery store and put candles on it: two red hearts, and a neon orange 2 and 5. Their brother had turned 25 in April, but he could not properly celebrate his birthday in a Russian prison.They brought along other things, too: a carton of Winston cigarettes, lighters, a bottle of Coca-Cola, some chocolates. The things that he liked, the things he had not had for so long. The sisters wondered: Would he still have his sense of humor? Would he still be the same?And then they waited for…

For motorcycle lovers in Sweden, Harley-Davidson is the hottest brand on the road. Jack Daniel’s whiskey beckons from the bar at British pubs. In France, Levi’s jeans are all about chic.But in the tumult of President Trump’s trade war with Europe, many European consumers are starting to avoid U.S. products and services in what appears to be a decisive and potentially long-term shift away from buying American, according to a new assessment by the European Central Bank.In April, Mr. Trump imposed a 10 percent blanket tariff on America’s trading partners, and threatened “reciprocal tariffs” on many of those, including the…

Few people want beefs with their neighbors to become public. That includes Elon Musk.In March, Mr. Musk’s team lobbied officials in the upscale city of West Lake Hills, Texas, to keep quiet the details of one of his mansions and security operations, according to emails to city employees obtained by The New York Times through public records requests.In those emails, the tech billionaire’s employees asked West Lake Hills officials to make private a public meeting in April — where neighbors might speak about his $6 million house. They pointed to Mr. Musk’s work with the Trump administration as reason that…

Philip Sunshine, a Stanford University physician who played an important role in establishing neonatology as a medical specialty, revolutionizing the care of premature and critically ill newborns who previously had little chance of survival, died on April 5 at his home in Cupertino, Calif. He was 94.His death was confirmed by his daughter Diana Sunshine.Before Dr. Sunshine and a handful of other physicians became interested in caring for preemies in the late 1950s and early ’60s, more than half of these unimaginably fragile patients died shortly after birth. Insurance companies wouldn’t pay to treat them.Dr. Sunshine, a pediatric gastroenterologist, thought…

The soprano Patricia Racette has performed on some of the world’s biggest stages, but she has long felt a special connection to Opera Theater of St. Louis, where she made her debut in 1993.Now Racette, 59, will deepen her ties to St. Louis: She will lead Opera Theater as its next artistic director, the company announced on Tuesday.Racette, who has directed productions for the company and overseen its young artist program for six years, said she was excited by the challenge of working to keep opera fresh and relevant.“It feels like a very natural evolution for me,” she said. “I…