Sam Altman of OpenAI: “I am Jewish… I see a lot of people in our industry sticking up for me... while that support for Muslims is comparatively lower"

Sam Altman of OpenAI: “I am Jewish… I see a lot of people in our industry sticking up for me... while that support for Muslims is comparatively lower"

    Saturday, January 06, 2024   No comments

 OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Thursday that he felt members of the Muslim and Arab communities in the technology industry were uncomfortable talking about their recent experiences, in an apparent reference to the impact of the ongoing war in Gaza, according to a Reuters report.

“Muslim and Arab colleagues (particularly Palestinians) in the tech community I spoke with feel uneasy about their recent experiences, and often do not speak out out of fear of retaliation and harming their career prospects,” Altman wrote on the social media network X.

The prominent president of the company that developed ChatGPT, which is supported by Microsoft, urged: Urge technology makers to treat members of those communities with empathy.

One X user asked Altman how he felt about the experiences of the Jewish community and he responded: “I'm Jewish, and I think anti-Semitism is a big and growing problem in the world, and I see a lot of people in our industry supporting me, which I greatly appreciate, and I see much less of that for Muslims.”

Canada's Prime Minister, Trudeau, appoints Canada’s First Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia

Canada's Prime Minister, Trudeau, appoints Canada’s First Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia

    Friday, January 27, 2023   No comments

 A statement issued by the Canadian Prime Minister's office said that journalist and activist Amira Al-Ghawabi will fill the position "to be an advocate, advisor, expert and representative to support and strengthen the federal government's efforts to combat Islamophobia, systemic racism, racial discrimination and religious intolerance."

Al-Ghawabi is a human rights activist, public relations officer at the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and columnist for the Toronto Star, having previously worked for more than a decade at CBC (CBC). CBC) Canadian Public Broadcasting.

In her new position, Al-Ghawabi will promote awareness of the diverse and intersecting identities of Muslims in Canada and advise the government in developing comprehensive policies, legislative proposals, programs and regulations that reflect their realities, helping to promote respect for equality, inclusion and diversity and highlighting the important contributions of Muslims to the Canadian national fabric, according to her. Prime Minister's statement.

For his part, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised - via Twitter - the appointment of Al-Ghawabi, which he saw as "an important step in our fight against Islamophobia and hate in all its forms."

"Diversity is really one of Canada's greatest strengths, but for many Muslims, Islamophobia is very familiar," he added.

Over recent years, a series of bloody attacks have targeted Canadian Muslims.

In June 2021, 4 members of a Muslim family were killed when someone ran them over with his truck in Ontario.

And 4 years before that, 6 Muslims were killed and 5 injured in an attack on a mosque in Quebec City.

In a series of tweets she posted on Thursday, El-Ghawabi listed the names of the people killed in the recent attacks, writing, "We must never forget."

The creation of the new position came as part of the recommendations of a national summit on Islamophobia organized by the federal government in June 2021 in response to these attacks.