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    Oscars to go host-less for 2nd straight year on ABC

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments7026 Views
    In this Feb. 4, 2019 file photo, an Oscar statue appears at the 91st Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif. The Oscars will not have a host for its annual awards show. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP, File)

    By Beth Harris

    PASADENA, Calif. (AP) --

    The Oscars are going without a host again this year.

    ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke said the Feb. 9 telecast will focus on what worked last year: "huge entertainment value, big musical numbers, big comedy and star power."

    Last year's ceremony attracted 29.6 million viewers, the second-smallest in Oscars history but 12% more than in 2018, which ended a four-year slide in viewership. Comedian Kevin Hart was originally announced as host, but he backed away when some anti-gay tweets he posted a decade ago resurfaced.

    ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences agreed to go hostless for a second straight year, Burke said.

    "We expect that we're going to have a very commercial set of nominations," Burke told a TV critics meeting Tuesday, "and a number of elements have come together that convinced us we'll have a very entertaining show."

    Nominations will be announced on Monday.

    Last year's Emmy Awards also went without a host. ABC is televising this year's ceremony on Sept. 20, and Burke was asked if she had any idea who might preside.

    "Baby Yoda," she joked, referring to the infant version of the "Star Wars" character that became an instant sensation on Disney Plus' "The Mandalorian." 

    Tags:ABC EntertainmentKarey BurkeOscars



    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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