
Astronomer CEO resigns after viral kiss cam video
Published on: Sun, Jul 20, 2025
By: Reuters Text Size: Byron and Cabot were caught on camera at a Coldplay concert in an awkward clip that quickly went viral. WASHINGTON: The CEO of the technology firm Astronomer Inc. has resigned after being caught canoodling on camera at a rock concert with a woman who was not his wife, the company said on Saturday. The company posted a written statement on its LinkedIn profile stating that its leaders "are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met."
Advertisement The statement said that Andy Byron had offered his resignation as CEO and that the board of directors had accepted it. Byron had been placed on leave on Friday, and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy is serving as the interim CEO. Byron and Astronomer's chief people officer Kristin Cabot were caught on camera at the Coldplay concert on Wednesday in Massachusetts in an awkward clip that quickly went viral. A spokesman for the company said that the pair were the only employees of the firm caught on camera. The spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on Cabot's job status. Once Byron and Cabot realized they were being shown on a jumbo screen inside Gillette Stadium as they embraced, Byron ducked out of sight and Cabot covered her face with her hands and spun around. Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin responded by saying "either they're having an affair or they're just very shy." Internet sleuths immediately went to work and identified Byron and Cabot by their social media profiles before the company confirmed their identities. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
UK's RELX says generative AI tools will keep driving growth
FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of the words "Artificial Intelligence AI" in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo LONDON (Reuters) -British business information group RELX said on Thursday demand for its generative AI tools from lawyers and scientists boosted half-year profit by 9%, and it was confident on further growth as new products launch and its conference business thrives. The growth over the last 10 years of RELX, which has helped make it one of the 10 biggest companies on the London Stock Exchange, has been driven by offering AI-based tools to professional customers in the banking, insurance, law and medicine sectors. Demand for its new generative AI tools has helped sustain growth more recently, and for the first six months of the year, the group posted adjusted operating profit of 1.65 billion pounds ($2.23 billion), on revenues which were up 7% to 4.74 billion pounds. "The opportunity in front of us remains very exciting, the development of new content, new data sets, new data sources, the computing power that's available to crunch the data or analyse the data, the algorithmic techniques," CFO Nick Luff said in an interview with Reuters after the results. Those developments mean the company can keep innovating to offer customers new products which make their working more efficient. Luff highlighted its new Lexus+AI Protégé offering, which acts as a legal assistant, combining both public content and a law firm's internal content, allowing lawyers to draft and summarise in their own firm's particular style. For academics and researchers, Science Direct AI is another product which is being well-received Luff said. It enables users to become more efficient in absorbing the latest developments in their fields. Shares in RELX, which competes with Thomson Reuters, traded down 0.5% at 3,874 pence in morning deals. The stock has risen 10% over the last 12 months and 250% over the last 10 years. ($1 = 0.7383 pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Susan Fenton)


The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Walmart bets on AI super agents to boost e-commerce growth
FILE PHOTO: Shoppers browse a Walmart Supercenter a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced new tariffs, in Secaucus, New Jersey, U.S. April 3, 2025. REUTERS/Siddharth Cavale/File Photo NEW YORK (Reuters) -Walmart unveiled plans on Thursday to roll out a suite of AI-powered "super agents" designed to improve the shopping experience for customers and streamline operations. The world's largest retailer said the four agents powered by agentic AI - designed for Walmart shoppers, store employees, suppliers and sellers, and software developers - would soon be the primary way people engage with Walmart. The super agents will be the entry point for every AI interaction these groups have with Walmart, replacing several existing agents and AI tools, along with new ones yet to be built, the company said. Walmart is betting on AI to drive its e-commerce growth, aiming for online sales to account for 50% of its total sales within five years. The company reported annual sales of $648 billion last year. By harnessing AI to streamline the shopping process - from discovering new products and helping with returns to improving delivery speeds - the retailer hopes it can attract more shoppers away from Amazon, which has also introduced a range of AI-powered tools for sellers and shoppers. Walmart's push comes as the short-term financial payoff of AI remains uncertain and concerns over how it might affect jobs across the industry. One of the agents, Sparky, is already available for shoppers on Walmart's app as a Gen-AIpowered tool. Currently it assists customers with getting product suggestions for an athletic activity, finding the right ink for their printer,or summarizing product reviews, among other options. In its "super agent" form it will be able to reorder items, plan an event such as a "unicorn-themed party"and through computer vision be able to offer product recipes by just looking at the contents of a shopper's fridge, Hari Vasudev, Walmart's U.S. chief technology officer, said at an event in New York. Agentic AI is the next iteration of generative AI, in that it needs minimal human intervention to make decisions and achieve specific tasks. Walmart is also developing an "Associate" super agent, to be rolled out in the coming months, which will allow workers and corporate staff to do things such as submit an application for parental leave or give store managers immediate information on sales data for a certain category or a product with minimal input. Employees now use separate AI tools to handle those queries, a company spokesperson said. For sellers, suppliers, and advertisers, Walmart is developing a super agent called "Marty" to streamline the onboarding process, manage orders and create ad campaigns. Itis also working on a "Developer" super agent, which will be the platform on which all future AI tools will be tested, built, and launched, the company said. "Agents can help automate and simplify pretty much everything that we do," Suresh Kumar, Walmart's chief technology officer said. He added that the company chose to launch these super agents now because "customers are ready, they are using AI in pretty much everything they do." The company declined to say whether the super agents would replace jobs. Dave Glick, senior vice president of enterprise business systems, said it would create new jobs without elaborating further. On Wednesday, Walmart had two AI-related announcements: it hired former Instacart executive Daniel Danker as executive vice president (EVP) for AI acceleration, product and design and created a new EVP, AI role that is yet to be filled. While retail has largely avoided AI-related layoffs, the tech industry has been hit hard, even in a historically strong market and resilient economy. In June, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said generative AI and agents will reduce its total corporate workforce over the next few years. Microsoft has emphasized that AI will boost productivity, but it has laid offthousands of employees, while Google has laid off hundreds of employees. Walmart has not linked any job cuts directly to AI, but it has been downsizing its corporate staff and is modernizing e-commerce fulfillment centers with automation, resulting in some workforce reductions. (Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in New York; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)


The Star
6 hours ago
- The Star
AI-powered ads to drive growth for global entertainment and media industry, PwC says
Artificial Intelligence words are seen in this illustration taken March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration -Growing use of artificial intelligence in advertising is expected to boost the global entertainment and media industry's revenue to $3.5 trillion by 2029, according to PwC. The industry is projected to record a compound annual growth rate of 3.7% until 2029, the consulting firm said in its Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2025-29 on Thursday. The growth will also be supported by non-digital categories such as live events. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Economic uncertainty from inflation and shifting trade policies are prompting consumers to cut back on non-essential spending, pressuring entertainment subscriptions, movie outings and digital media. At this time, advertising is emerging as a significant driver of revenue growth for the industry at-large, PwC said. BY THE NUMBERS Digital formats, which accounted for 72% of overall ad revenue in 2024, will rise to 80% in 2029, with new technologies including AI and hyper-personalization expected to drive more end-market uptake, the report said. Ad revenue from connected TV is expected to rise to $51 billion in 2029, driven by higher digital engagement, PwC said. The industry is also set to benefit from strong video games revenue, which is forecast to grow to about $300 billion in 2029. KEY QUOTES "There's certain general macroeconomic pressures on individuals, families and advertising starts to subsidize a lot of that," said Bart Spiegel, global entertainment and media leader at PwC U.S. The industry "has always been at the forefront of technological innovation, but companies will need to remain nimble and proactive to embrace the future and satisfy consumers in an ecosystem that rewards creativity and tailored content," Spiegel said. (Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)