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    Athletes, actress set to judge $1 million tech contest for Mark Burnett’s TBS series

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1321 Views
    In this Jan. 6, 2016 file photo, Mayim Bialik poses in the press room after winning favorite network TV comedy for "The Big Bang Theory" at the People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

    By Lynn Elber, Television Writer

    LOS ANGELES (AP) --

    Two basketball stars and a brainy sitcom actress will be among the judges for TBS' tech-competition series, "America's Greatest Makers."

    The cable channel said Tuesday that Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith and Mayim Bialik will help decide the winner of the contest and its $1 million top prize.

    Executive producer Mark Burnett said the show will debut close to college basketball's March Madness, with some games carried by TBS, so including O'Neal and Smith was a good fit. Bialik, who stars on "The Big Bang Theory," holds a doctorate in neuroscience.

    The competitors, both groups and individuals, have come up with "amazing and cool" tech ideas, Burnett said. They range from a toothbrush equipped with a video game to encourage kids to use it – to a drone with the possibility of being controlled by thought.

    Competitors that survive the first round will fine-tune their products through weekly challenges to be judged by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich; financial expert Carol Roth; Kevin Pereira, co-host of truTV's "Hack My Life," and one of the celebrity judges.

    Burnett, whose credits include "Survivor" and "Shark Tank," said the male and female contestants range in age from 15 to 59 and are ethnically diverse.

    "America's Greatest Makers," starting April 5, is described by TBS as part of chip-maker Intel's initiative to foster innovation in the areas of wearable technology and smart-connected consumer electronics.

    Tags:America's Greatest MakersMark BurnettTBS



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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