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Emmett Shear becomes interim OpenAI CEO as Altman talks break down

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Re: Emmett Shear becomes interim OpenAI CEO as Altman talks break down

#621

Honest question: Other than 1) Microsoft and 2) anyone building a product with the OpenAI api 3) OpenAI employees… …is OpenAI crashing a burning a big deal? This seems rather over hyped… everyone has an opinion, everyone cares because OpenAI has a high profile. …but really , alternatives to chatGPT exist now, and most people will be, really… not affected by this in any meaningful degree. Isn’t breaking the strangle h…

In the "grand scheme of things", no, it's probably not a big deal. I think in the short term, I think it has the potential to set back the space a few months, as a lot of the ecosystem is still oriented around OpenAI (as they are the best at productivizing). I think that even extends to many community/open source models, which are commonly trained against GPT-4.

If they are able to retain enough people to properly release a GPT-5 with significant performance increases in a few months, I would assume that the effect is less pronounced.

Re: Emmett Shear becomes interim OpenAI CEO as Altman talks break down

#622

I still cannot process what’s happened to one of the most prominent and hyped companies of the past year in just one weekend. If it’s true that Altman won’t return to OpenAI (or alternatively: that the current board won’t step down) then where does that leave OpenAI? Microsoft can’t be happy, as evidenced by reporting that Nadella was acting as mediator to bring him back. Does OpenAI survive this? Will be super inter…

Don't fully believe this, but the only rational explanation I can see is that Ilya knows they have AGI. - Nuke employee morale: massive attrition, not getting upside (tender offer), - Nuke the talent magnet: who's going to want to work there now? - Nuke Microsoft relationship: all those GPUs gone, - Nuke future fundraising: who's going to fund this shit show? Just doesn't make sense.

Reminds me of the very ending of the show Silicon Valley. Crazy twist and great last two episodes of the show.

Re: Emmett Shear becomes interim OpenAI CEO as Altman talks break down

#623

"I specifically say I’m in favor of slowing down, which is sort of like pausing except it’s slowing down. If we’re at a speed of 10 right now, a pause is reducing to 0. I think we should aim for a 1-2 instead." - Emmett Shear, Sep 16, 2023 https://twitter.com/eshear/status/1703178063306203397?t=8nHS...

Sounds like good news to all the others in the field.

Re: Emmett Shear becomes interim OpenAI CEO as Altman talks break down

#625

Honest question: Other than 1) Microsoft and 2) anyone building a product with the OpenAI api 3) OpenAI employees… …is OpenAI crashing a burning a big deal? This seems rather over hyped… everyone has an opinion, everyone cares because OpenAI has a high profile. …but really , alternatives to chatGPT exist now, and most people will be, really… not affected by this in any meaningful degree. Isn’t breaking the strangle h…

In Twitter's case that's the main product getting worse without any of the wannabes getting that much traction.

It's different. People spend YEARS building their social media presence, following, and algorithmic advantage.

Jumping to a different platform is a huge sacrifice for power users - those who create content and value.

None of this is a factor here. ChatGPT is just a tool, like an online image resizer.

Re: Emmett Shear becomes interim OpenAI CEO as Altman talks break down

#626
post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can someone explain to me what they mean by "safe" AGI? I've looked in many places and everyone is extremely vague. Certainly no one is suggesting these systems can become "alive", so what exactly are we trying to remain safe from? Job loss?

Death. The default consequence of AGI's arrival is doom. Aligning a super intelligence with our desires is a problem that no one has solved yet. "The AI does not hate you, nor does it love you, but you are made out of atoms which it can use for something else." ---- Listen to Dwarkesh Podcast with Eliezer or Carl Shulman to know more about this.

There is absolutely no AGI risk. These are mere marketing ploys to sell a chatbot / feel super important. A fancy chatbot, but a chatbot none the less.

Re: Emmett Shear becomes interim OpenAI CEO as Altman talks break down

#627
post #592

Through all of this, no one has cogently explained why Altman leaving is such a big deal. Why would workers immediately quit their job when he has no other company, and does he even know who these workers are? Are these people that desperate to make a buck (or the prospect of big bucks)? It seems like half of the people working at the non-profit were not actually concerned about the mission but rather just waiting ou…

A CEO typically builds up a network of his people within the org and if he falls hard they are next on the chopping block. Same deal as with dictators.

"Dozens" sounds like about right amount for a large org.

Re: Emmett Shear becomes interim OpenAI CEO as Altman talks break down

#628

Honest question: Other than 1) Microsoft and 2) anyone building a product with the OpenAI api 3) OpenAI employees… …is OpenAI crashing a burning a big deal? This seems rather over hyped… everyone has an opinion, everyone cares because OpenAI has a high profile. …but really , alternatives to chatGPT exist now, and most people will be, really… not affected by this in any meaningful degree. Isn’t breaking the strangle h…

I'll be probably downvoted to hell, but, I think what is happening is healthy to the ecosystem.

Pine forests are known to grow by fires. Fires scatter the seeds around, the area which is unsustainable is reset, new forests are seeded, life goes on.

This is what we're seeing, too. A very dense forest has burned, seeds are scattered, new, smaller forests will start growing.

Things will slow down a bit, bit accelerate again in a more healthy manner. We'll see competition, and different approaches to training and sharing models.

Life will go on...

Re: Emmett Shear becomes interim OpenAI CEO as Altman talks break down

#630

Honest question: Other than 1) Microsoft and 2) anyone building a product with the OpenAI api 3) OpenAI employees… …is OpenAI crashing a burning a big deal? This seems rather over hyped… everyone has an opinion, everyone cares because OpenAI has a high profile. …but really , alternatives to chatGPT exist now, and most people will be, really… not affected by this in any meaningful degree. Isn’t breaking the strangle h…

Totally agree. It seems like OpenAI is ahead of the curve, but even some free open source projects have become really good. I am no expert, so take this with a grain of salt. It seems OpenAI has a lead, but only of a few months or so and others are racing behind. I guess it really sucks if you built something that relies on the OpenAI api, but even then one could replace the api layer.

For coding, at least, nothing out there is even close to as good as GPT-4. Not Claude, not Grok, and certainly not llama.
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