TOGETHER WITH

It's Tuesday and TikTok Shop is celebrating Black Friday with some truly eccentric deals. Because nothing says ‘happy holidays’ like snail serum and dog umbrellas, right?

TAKING THE REINS

OpenAI’s new CEO is the co-founder and former head of Twitch

It’s been an eventful few days for the company behind ChatGPT. After abruptly firing CEO Sam Altman on Friday—allegedly because of a disagreement over profitability and a lack of “candid” communication with the board—OpenAI spent the weekend scrambling for a replacement before briefly considering Altman’s reinstatement.

Those talks were apparently unproductive. By Monday, Microsoft had tapped Altman and OpenAI co-founder/former president Greg Brockman to lead a new AI team. Not long after, former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear announced on X that he’d be taking over as OpenAI’s interim CEO.

Shear is ready to make a change.

The Twitch co-founder followed up his announcement by laying out a “three point plan for the next 30 days.” Here’s the gist:

1. “Hire an independent investigator to dig into the entire process leading up to this point and generate a full report.”

2. “Continue to speak to as many of our employees, partners, investors, and customers as possible, take good notes, and share the key takeaways.”

3. “Reform the management and leadership team in light of recent departures into an effective force to drive results for our customers.”

Shear will also need to focus on rebuilding OpenAI’s reputation. As the former Twitch CEO noted, the “communications around Sam’s removal has been handled very badly, which has seriously damaged our trust.” Given that Microsoft—aka Altman’s new employer—holds a major stake in OpenAI (possibly as much as 49%), Shear will need to work quickly if he hopes to regain the company’s momentum.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

How does Spotter’s creator funding process really work? Check out this 3-step guide to find out:

As a YouTuber, expanding your brand is a big step. That’s where Spotter comes in—with invaluable YouTube performance insights, personalized guidance, and funding deals ranging from $100,000 to $50 million.

Here’s how you can fund your next steps with Spotter:

Step 1: Check out the website to see what top creators have to say 💬​
Spotter’s website is full of FAQs and creator stories. MrBeast’s take on Spotter is short and sweet: “it is—in my opinion—a great way just to get money in the bank.”

Step 2: Get in touch with the team 🤝 
​Fill out a quick online contact form​ and Spotter experts will reach out ASAP. Here’s how Airrack described Spotter’s fast-paced process: “They were ready to give me the money that they had offered me within like two business days, and they understood that this industry moves quickly.”

Step 3: Spend your fresh funding however you choose 💸​​​​ 
With Spotter, you’re free to use your new capital to reinvest in yourself. In fact, Lizzy Capri put her Spotter funds to good use by “building out a whole studio warehouse where my team can work and grow.”

Ready to get started with Spotter?

Visit the website to learn more →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Family-friendly YouTube hub Toys and Colors scored the most weekly views of any U.S. based channel for the third week running. (Tubefilter)
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• The platform known as Twitter still matters. As the tech industry reacts to OpenAI’s transfer of power, major announcements seem to be happening on X—not Threads. (TechCrunch)
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• Amazon has introduced AI Ready, a new initiative that offers free educational courses and training in the field of generative AI. (The Verge)
  

• PBS is bringing classic cooking shows to Amazon Freevee, Plex, and Roku via a new 24/7 PBS Food FAST channel. (Gizmodo)

DATA • GLOBAL TOP 50 📈

Is this creator the ultimate wife guy?

Golu’s YouTube channel makes one thing very clear: he loves his wife and isn’t afraid who knows it. In fact, the creator’s wholesome family life has inspired dozens of viral Shorts—the most popular of which has gathered nearly 90 million views all on its own.

That’s no fluke. So far, all of Golu’s top ten short-form skits have garnered at least 40 million views each. Seven of those clips also share a common nomenclature: each video title begins with the phrase “Biwi no. 1” (aka “wife no. 1”).

Golu’s declarations of love have taken him a long way.

The couple’s hilarious short-form skits and undeniable chemistry have attracted 12 million subscribers. That impressive audience places Golu’s channel (aka GOLU008) among the most successful Shorts hubs in India—and this past week has been GOLU008’s best one ever.

• During the third week of November, Golu’s channel reached #9 in the Global Top 50.

• In total, the comedy creator picked up 303.2 million weekly views.

• The result: a 32% week-over-week bump and a lifetime total of 4.2 billion views.

BALLINGER IS BACK

Is Colleen Ballinger—aka Miranda Sings—finally ready to face the music?

Colleen Ballinger is back online. Four months after posting her notorious 10-minute ukulele video (in which she described allegations that she sent sexual messages to minors as a “toxic gossip train”), the YouTuber has uploaded a new lifestyle vlog.

Most of that video falls under the definition of a traditional “fall vlog”—but for three and a half minutes, Ballinger finally addressed that “embarrassing” musical number.

The vlogger went on to apologize for hurt caused by “moments where I was immature and inappropriate with some of my comedy” and “times when I did not put enough thought into some of my fan interactions.” But despite those concessions, Ballinger didn’t directly address any specific allegations—including those from former fan Adam McIntyre, who first met the YouTuber at thirteen and has since raised concerns regarding her alleged behavior with underage fans. (Ballinger has responded to some of McIntyre’s allegations in the past; in 2020, she admitted to having sent him lingerie as a “joke”.)

On Monday, McIntyre posted a video of his own, in which he discussed the possible motivations behind Ballinger’s new vlog. His theories: Ballinger has either returned to keep monetization active on her channel or to capitalize on holiday ad revenue (or both).

WATCH THIS 📺

It’s not cuffing season without Mariah Carey

After all, the holidays don’t really start until “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is blaring from every Starbucks speaker and car radio. This year, Mariah Carey kicked off the winter season with a festive performance at the 2023 Billboard Musical Awards.

The pop star’s latest rendition of her holiday hit was as flawless as always, with a little extra pizazz added by a legion of ice skating backup dancers and a healthy amount of fake snow. Check out the full performance here.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.