Emmett Shear to lead OpenAI after quitting as Twitch boss in spring
New tech chief says he has ‘nothing but respect’ for predecessor Sam Altman
Emmett Shear, who grew up in Seattle, has become known as an advocate for safe artificial intelligence
ROBIN L MARSHALL/GETTY IMAGES
Emmett Shear has been appointed to lead OpenAI having resigned as chief executive of Twitch this year citing the birth of his now-nine-month-old son.
Shear, 40, co-founded Justin.tv, the company that was to become Twitch, a video game streaming service, in 2007. He sold it to Amazon for almost $1 billion eight years later after signing up more than eight million subscribers.
Twitch is a platform that allows users to upload videos of their gaming experiences on consoles such as Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox. Amazon’s cash acquisition of the business was one of its largest deals at the time and Shear remained as the platform’s chief executive.
Jeff Bezos, at that time the boss of Amazon, said the technology powerhouse was investing in
