PCWorld reports that Mozilla's new CEO Anthony Enzor-DeMeo plans to integrate AI features into Firefox while maintaining user choice to disable them. This strategic shift addresses Firefox's stagnant market share and aims to compete with AI-centric browsers without compromising privacy principles. The optional AI implementation reflects Mozilla's commitment to transparency and user control in an increasingly competitive browser landscape. Mozilla recently confirmed that it's shifting gears and bringing AI features to its Firefox browser. However, according to the newly appointed CEO Anthony Enzor-DeMeo, the AI features will always be optional and possible to switch off completely.

OpenAI's incoming CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, sent her first note to staff on Monday, telling employees the tools they're developing "will unlock more opportunities for more people than any other technology in history." "If we get this right, AI can give everyone more power than ever," Simo wrote, striking a hyper-optimistic tone, according to a copy of the memo viewed by WIRED. "But I also realize those opportunities won't magically appear on their own." Simo previously worked as the CEO of Instacart. Before that, she spent a decade at Meta, where she went from being a product manager on the company's news feed to the head of product for the Facebook app.

Stepping into such a significant role can't be easy, but Shear appears to have a sense of early priorities. In his announcement post on X early Monday, he outlined three areas of focus for his first 30 days on the job: He said he intends to investigate "the entire process" that brought the company to this point, open lines of communication to partners and OpenAI employees and rebuild the management and leadership teams "in light of recent departures."

OpenAI is on its third CEO in three days, after appointing Emmett Shear as interim CEO, less than 72 hours after its board ousted former CEO Sam Altman in a shock move on Friday Nov. 17, claiming he had not been "consistently candid in his communications with the board." The company said on Friday it was replacing Altman with chief technology officer Mira Murati but over the weekend, multiple publications reported that Altman was in talks with the OpenAI board to return as CEO. After the departures of Altman and chairman and president Greg Brockman, who resigned, the board comprises chief scientist Ilya Sutskever and three independent directors: Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo, tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner of D.C.-based think tank the Center for Security and Emerging Technology. Bloomberg reported that Murati was negotiating for Altman and Brockman to return to OpenAI, and that Microsoft boss Satya Nadella was playing a central role in the talks. The negotiations ultimately came to nothing, and on Sunday evening Pacific time, reports emerged that OpenAI was appointing Shear as CEO.

BERLIN--Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Oliver Blume has put plans for a self-driving vehicle under review in the first sign since his appointment two months ago that he is walking back some of his predecessor's most ambitious technology ventures. Mr. Blume is likely to delay the Trinty self-driving electric car project and could cancel plans to build a new factory for the vehicle near its headquarters, people familiar with the matter said. In a message Thursday that was seen by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Blume and VW brand CEO Thomas Schäfer told employees, "We are using this opportunity to review all projects and investments and determine whether they are viable." The move shows how Mr. Blume, who took the helm in September after the board ousted Herbert Diess, is beginning to reorder VW's most ambitious--and fraught--endeavors to focus on near-term implementation of key software and technology for coming models. A personal, guided tour to the best scoops and stories every day in The Wall Street Journal.

Torc Robotics and Daimler Truck AG enter their fourth year of partnership, with a focus on customers, industry collaboration, and commercializing Level 4 autonomous trucks in the U.S. for long-haul applications. The powerhouse team continues to develop safe, sustained innovation in the freight industry as they combine Daimler Truck's extensive experience in manufacturing and relationships in the freight industry with Torc's experience in developing autonomous vehicle solutions. Since Daimler Truck's majority share investment in Torc in 2019, the two have worked hand-in-hand to be the first to commercialize a profitable autonomous truck solution at scale. Torc continues to operate as an independent subsidiary and serves as the lead for autonomous driving system development, innovation, and fleet testing. "Bringing a safe Level 4 autonomous truck to market is by no means a simple task. Over the past three years, we have benefited from the strong collaboration with Daimler Truck, bringing us significantly closer to our goal of developing a highly optimized self-driving truck that will meet the fleets' needs for cost, safety, and performance. The teamwork shown has been outstanding so far and we're entering our fourth year of partnership with a clear roadmap – focusing on one manufacturer and one initial use case in one geographic area," said Peter Vaughan Schmidt, Torc CEO.

Doosan Robotics recently appointed William (Junghoon) Ryu as its new chief executive officer. Ryu joined the Doosan Robotics board of directors on July 1, 2021 leaving his previous role as vice-president of corporate strategy at Doosan Group. "I am honoured to take on the leadership role at Doosan Robotics and join forces with the incredible team, aiming to drive innovation and growth of the company to become number one in the robotics industry," said Ryu. "Doosan Robotics is a young and uprising organization. I am excited for more agile practices to accelerate servicing our products to customers in the market with breakneck speed of changes." In his new role, Ryu is expected to enhance technological collaboration with the parent company's new business areas.

Highly regarded voicetech company Soapbox Labs is to more than double staff numbers over the next two years as it names a new chief executive and positions itself for significant growth. The company intends to grow headcount to 80 employees over the next two years having taken on an additional 10 people in 2020 to bring employee numbers to 30. Soapbox founder and chief executive Dr Patricia Scanlon is to become the company's executive chair with chief operating officer Dr Martyn Farrows replacing her. The changes come as Soapbox is preparing to announce a number of major new client deals and partnerships in the coming months and release its first consumer solutions for apps, toys, games and robots. Established in 2013, SoapBox uses artificial intelligence and deep learning to develop cloud-based speech recognition solutions for young children aged between three and 12.

After five-and-a-half years of leading Alphabet's fully autonomous driving unit, Waymo CEO John Krafcik plans to hand over the job of running the company to two of his colleagues. The two executives previously served as the company's COO and CTO, respectively. They've also been at Waymo for several years, with Dolgov's tenure going back to 2009 when the unit was still under the Google umbrella. The move is also notable in that it puts a woman of color at the head of one of the world's leading autonomous vehicle technology companies. Krafcik says he'll continue to serve as an advisor to Waymo, but it also seems like he wants to take a break from the tech world.

Honda Motor Co. is promoting its current head of research and development Toshihiro Mibe to chief executive, the latest in a number of bold moves the automaker is taking to step beyond its more than half-a-century-long reliance on selling gasoline-powered cars. Mibe, 59, will also assume the president role effective April 1, the company said in a statement Friday. Honda's current CEO Takahiro Hachigo, who helmed the firm for six years, will become a director as of that date and then retire from the company at its general meeting in June. Honda's new chief is taking the top job as the Japanese carmaker pushes to stay abreast of the two great shifts hitting the auto industry: automation and electrification. Since joining Honda in 1987, Mibe has occupied various roles, including as the chief of Honda's R&D subsidiary, where he was central to driving the company's electric vehicle technologies and autonomous driving strategies.