Live data from Hacker News

Who Controls OpenAI?

bloomberg.com

11–20 of 58 posts

Re: Who Controls OpenAI?

#11
post #7

> The boardroom coup at OpenAI really might have been, at least in part, about the board’s literal fears of AI apocalypse. The AI doomers delivered OpenAI in Microsoft's lap for free all in the name of protecting us from the evils of AI. The ironing. But it shows most of OpenAI doesn't really value safety first, if 500 of them are ready to jump ship. They are just as eager as anyone else to see AGI happening, with th…

I can only imagine this chief scientist guy's horror when he realized that none of the people accepting multi-million equity compensation packages for a job to pursue AGI ethically were more concerned about the ethics they emphasized in the interview than the millions of dollars in equity backed by Altman's prolific dealmaking.

In some ways it is tragic because his mistake seems like it came as a result of thinking that the rules were actually the rules (in that the board controlled the non-profit, and that their decisions would be seen as legitimate,) and also that he wasn't surrounded by people who were only going along with his philosophy because of the money that his move seriously threatened.

Re: Who Controls OpenAI?

#12
post #2

OpenAI's co-founder Ilya Sutskever and more than 500 other employees have threatened to quit the embattled company after its board dramatically fired CEO Sam Altman. In an open letter to the company's board, which voted to oust Altman on Friday, the group said it is obvious 'that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI'. Sutskever is a member of the board and backed the decision to fire Altman, before tweeting his 're…

Fourth time I've posted this conspiracy theory in the last few minutes at HN. This'll be the last: This reads like a disingenuous strategy to get rid of the other three members (one half) of the board. A real coup, not a fake one. I know nothing about any of these people, but it seems possible Sutskever convinced the board to make a decision that he knew would have an outcome that would end in them being fiduciarily…

Or Sutskever is just clueless, didn't think through his previous actions, and now super regrets it...

Re: Who Controls OpenAI?

#13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fourth time I've posted this conspiracy theory in the last few minutes at HN. This'll be the last: This reads like a disingenuous strategy to get rid of the other three members (one half) of the board. A real coup, not a fake one. I know nothing about any of these people, but it seems possible Sutskever convinced the board to make a decision that he knew would have an outcome that would end in them being fiduciarily…

Or Sutskever is just clueless, didn't think through his previous actions, and now super regrets it...

So why does he stay (at least as an employee) but the rest of the board goes?

Re: Who Controls OpenAI?

#14
post #9

>> You can make the case that Microsoft just acquired OpenAI for $0 and zero risk of an antitrust lawsuit If I were MS, I'd be sending out a bunch more job offers today. "Show me an OpenAI W-2, we'll match, go work under Sam."

It isn't quite that simple, because equity isn't on W-2s.

Re: Who Controls OpenAI?

#15
post #2

OpenAI's co-founder Ilya Sutskever and more than 500 other employees have threatened to quit the embattled company after its board dramatically fired CEO Sam Altman. In an open letter to the company's board, which voted to oust Altman on Friday, the group said it is obvious 'that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI'. Sutskever is a member of the board and backed the decision to fire Altman, before tweeting his 're…

Fourth time I've posted this conspiracy theory in the last few minutes at HN. This'll be the last: This reads like a disingenuous strategy to get rid of the other three members (one half) of the board. A real coup, not a fake one. I know nothing about any of these people, but it seems possible Sutskever convinced the board to make a decision that he knew would have an outcome that would end in them being fiduciarily…

I think people here will likely be somewhat open to that conspiracy theory, as my assumption is they'd rather see the world through a lens where capable but malicious individuals are able to enact such complex plans, than believe even smart people can make a series of progressively dumb decisions without correctly predicting the downstream consequences.

The far simpler explanation: Microsoft positioned itself very ably prior to this debacle, and its experienced and ruthless executive team was able to successfully capitalise on a major mistake as a result. This way you do not need to purport the existence of a seer-like ability within Satya to correctly predict third+ order effects, just a very high level of experience + competence for one party, and the opposite for the other.

Truth is, until a reasonable sounding explanation of what set these events into motion is made public, it'll be impossible to put any narrative to rest.

Re: Who Controls OpenAI?

#16
post #7

> The boardroom coup at OpenAI really might have been, at least in part, about the board’s literal fears of AI apocalypse. The AI doomers delivered OpenAI in Microsoft's lap for free all in the name of protecting us from the evils of AI. The ironing. But it shows most of OpenAI doesn't really value safety first, if 500 of them are ready to jump ship. They are just as eager as anyone else to see AGI happening, with th…

[dead]

Re: Who Controls OpenAI?

#17
post #9

>> You can make the case that Microsoft just acquired OpenAI for $0 and zero risk of an antitrust lawsuit If I were MS, I'd be sending out a bunch more job offers today. "Show me an OpenAI W-2, we'll match, go work under Sam."

They have been, you're a day behind

Re: Who Controls OpenAI?

#18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or Sutskever is just clueless, didn't think through his previous actions, and now super regrets it...

So why does he stay (at least as an employee) but the rest of the board goes?

Not that I agree with the comment you replied to, but Ilya is absolutely essential to the future of OpenAI. That's why they'd want him to stay.

Re: Who Controls OpenAI?

#19
post #2

OpenAI's co-founder Ilya Sutskever and more than 500 other employees have threatened to quit the embattled company after its board dramatically fired CEO Sam Altman. In an open letter to the company's board, which voted to oust Altman on Friday, the group said it is obvious 'that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI'. Sutskever is a member of the board and backed the decision to fire Altman, before tweeting his 're…

Fourth time I've posted this conspiracy theory in the last few minutes at HN. This'll be the last: This reads like a disingenuous strategy to get rid of the other three members (one half) of the board. A real coup, not a fake one. I know nothing about any of these people, but it seems possible Sutskever convinced the board to make a decision that he knew would have an outcome that would end in them being fiduciarily…

> an outcome that would end in them being fiduciarily obliged to resign

They are the board of a nonprofit. They do not have a fiduciary duty to shareholders or employees. They may choose to resign due to political or social pressure, but they haven't done anything that breaches legal obligations as officers of the corporation or its controlling board.

Re: Who Controls OpenAI?

#20
post #7

> The boardroom coup at OpenAI really might have been, at least in part, about the board’s literal fears of AI apocalypse. The AI doomers delivered OpenAI in Microsoft's lap for free all in the name of protecting us from the evils of AI. The ironing. But it shows most of OpenAI doesn't really value safety first, if 500 of them are ready to jump ship. They are just as eager as anyone else to see AGI happening, with th…

I can only imagine this chief scientist guy's horror when he realized that none of the people accepting multi-million equity compensation packages for a job to pursue AGI ethically were more concerned about the ethics they emphasized in the interview than the millions of dollars in equity backed by Altman's prolific dealmaking. In some ways it is tragic because his mistake seems like it came as a result of thinking t…

“You mean they lied when I asked them why they wanted to work here? Like 99.9% of all times that question has been asked in history? I’m shocked!”
Post reply on HN