Google’s EMEA Boss to Leave Company after Decade in Post

The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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Google’s EMEA Boss to Leave Company after Decade in Post

The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The logo of Google LLC is shown at an entrance to one of their buildings in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake

The man charged with overseeing Google’s operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia has stepped down after a decade in post.
Matt Brittin first joined the tech giant as head of UK and Ireland operations in 2007, before rising through the ranks to become vice president of northern and central Europe, and then EMEA president in 2014.
Prior to his time at Google, Brittin spent several years working as a consultant for McKinsey & Co, as well as a stint as commercial director Trinity Mirror, later rebranded as Reach PLC, Reuters reported.
In a post announcing his departure on social media platform LinkedIn, Brittin praised colleagues whose AI advances this week won the Nobel prize for chemistry, and shared advice one of Google’s co-founders gave him when he arrived at the company.
“When I joined Google in January 2007, Larry Page advised me to ‘put the best people you can on important work, and get out of the way.’ It’s been the privilege of my life to try to honor this - working with brilliant teams to help build tech that makes the world better,” he wrote.
Brittin said he would continue running Google’s EMEA operations until a successor had been chosen.



OpenAI Launches Free AI Training Course for Teachers

A keyboard is placed in front of a displayed OpenAI logo in this illustration taken February 21, 2023. (Reuters)
A keyboard is placed in front of a displayed OpenAI logo in this illustration taken February 21, 2023. (Reuters)
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OpenAI Launches Free AI Training Course for Teachers

A keyboard is placed in front of a displayed OpenAI logo in this illustration taken February 21, 2023. (Reuters)
A keyboard is placed in front of a displayed OpenAI logo in this illustration taken February 21, 2023. (Reuters)

OpenAI and non-profit partner Common Sense Media have launched a free training course for teachers aimed at demystifying artificial intelligence and prompt engineering, the organizations said on Wednesday.

The move comes as OpenAI is stepping up efforts to highlight the positive role in education of its ChatGPT chatbot whose launch in November 2022 kicked off a generative AI craze and made it one of the world's fastest-growing applications.

Trained on reams of data, generative AI can create brand-new humanlike content, helping users spin up term papers, complete science homework and even write entire novels.

ChatGPT's launch - in the middle of the school year - caught teachers off-guard when they realized it could be used as a cheating and plagiarism tool, which then sparked a backlash and school bans.

OpenAI, backed by Microsoft and other investors and valued at $157 billion in its last funding round, has formed a dedicated team to support what it says is the responsible use of AI in education and learning, led by former Coursera executive Leah Belsky.

"My goal in this role is to put AI into the hands of every student and every teacher... and also give them the skills to learn how to do it responsibly and effectively," Belsky told Reuters. Belsky said that student adoption of ChatGPT is "very, very high," and parents are generally supportive, viewing AI skills as essential for future careers.

The training course, targeted at kindergarten through 12th grade teachers, shows them how to use the ChatGPT chatbot product for various education use cases, such as to create lesson content or streamline department meetings. Available on Common Sense Media's website, it is the first offering in OpenAI's partnership with Common Sense Media.