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This rescue mission just got hairier.

UBS tapped its former CEO, Sergio Ermotti, to lead the emergency acquisition of perennially troubled rival Credit Suisse. In case taking what is essentially a public service job keeping the Swiss banking system from collapsing wasn’t challenging enough for Ermotti, another large skeleton has just waltzed out of CS’s cavernous closet. A new US Senate investigation revealed that Credit Suisse has allegedly been helping ultra-wealthy Americans avoid paying taxes for years. Better break out the Tylenol, Sergio.

“Swiss bank account” has long been practically code for dodgy money, and not just in Hollywood movies. Traditionally, Swiss banks have been financial institutions of choice for everyone from Azerbaijani strongmen to Japanese yakuza. Those days were supposed to have ended: back in 2014, Credit Suisse pleaded guilty to aiding in tax evasion, paid a $2.5 billion fine to US authorities, and entered into a plea deal with the Department of Justice in which it promised to be “100 percent compliant” with its obligations under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. Basically, the deal was “if an American account seems suspicious, you need to flag it and notify us right away.” But on Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee found that for Credit Suisse, old habits die hard.

The bank allegedly helped super-rich American clients conceal more than $700 million from the US government. The biggest piece of the scandal came in 2017 when the DOJ arrested Dan Horsky, a former business professor, for hiding more than $220 million in offshore accounts. The Senate investigation found that Credit Suisse knowingly helped Horsky and only disclosed his account to authorities after whistleblowers blew their whistles:

Credit Suisse officials denied any wrongdoing, but Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden had harsh words for the lender. “At the center of this investigation are greedy Swiss bankers and catnapping government regulators, and the result appears to be a massive, ongoing conspiracy to help ultra-wealthy U.S. citizens to evade taxes and rip off their fellow Americans,” he said in a statement to Reuters.

Sergio to the Rescue: Many analysts see Ermotti as the right person for the job – he’s something of a Swiss Jamie Dimon, having successfully navigated UBS through the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and is rumored to harbor political aspirations. But a recent poll found that the majority of Swiss opposed the $3.3 billion merger altogether, and nearly half said they’d rather have the government temporarily take control of Credit Suisse.

– Griffin Kelly

Who’s afraid of ChatGPT? The competition, apparently.

Over 1,000 academics and techies signed an open letter calling for companies to pause training of AI models “more powerful” than GPT-4 for six months. While the letter is getting a lot of attention, what’s overlooked is how rapidly shrinking tech companies have gutted their ethical AI departments in the face of ChatGPT’s growing “power,” per a report in the Financial Times.

The open letter garnered signatures from notable tech leaders including Elon Musk, researchers from Google-owned DeepMind, and the CEO of Stability AI — the company that made AI-powered image generator Stable Diffusion. Notably, these signatories are all in direct competition with OpenAI.

Musk disbanded the ethical AI team at Twitter when he fired the vast majority of the company’s workforce — and he’s not alone. Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft have all made cuts to their AI ethics teams, according to the FT. While companies may be shedding AI ethics voices internally, some experts have given their opinions on the open letter publicly:

Stefflbauer pointed out moratoriums on extant AI tech are not a new phenomenon. In 2020, major US tech firms paused sales of facial recognition to US law enforcement following activist pressure from AI ethics experts who pointed out bias, particularly the tendency to misidentify people of color and women.

Move Fast And AI-ify Things: The chances of Microsoft and OpenAI slowing down are pretty slim. Microsoft seems keen to cram ChatGPT into as many products as possible, and this week announced it will be integrated into its cybersecurity suite of products, though it was cagey about exactly what the chatbot’s use will be. Maybe ChatGPT can invent one.

– Isobel Asher Hamilton

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The break-in-case-of-emergency medicine will finally be available without delay.

On Wednesday, the FDA announced that Narcan, the leading version of the opioid overdose-reversal drug naloxone, will now be available over the counter. It’s a move advocates say could save countless lives.

Over 100,000 Americans now die of drug overdoses every year, according to the CDC. The rise of fentanyl, an especially deadly synthetic opioid, has only exacerbated the crisis. Governments at every level have poured countless resources into ending the epidemic, with over $50 billion in lawsuit settlements with major drug companies, pharmacy chains, and distributors funding much of that legwork. Narcan is seen as one of the most vital tools for first responders and good Samaritans alike.

But until now, it was available by prescription only. Of 8,711 overdose reversals recorded over a five-year study led by the University of Washington, 94% of naloxone treatments were delivered by other opioid users, and less than 1% by EMTs or the police. By making the drug available OTC, advocates say it can now be accessible by the people most likely to use it: friends and family of opioid users and others most likely to be around overdoses. But exactly where customers can buy it, and how much it will cost, remains an open question:

Erase the Stigma: Making the life-saving drug available OTC has its obvious benefits. “Putting it out on the shelves is going to allow people just to pick it up, not have stigma attached to it and readily access this life-saving drug,” Jose Benitez, lead executive officer at hard-reduction organization Prevention Point Philadelphia, told The Guardian. Sounds like a step in the right direction.

– Brian Boyle