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OpenAI Committed to Buying $51M of AI Chips from a Startup Backed by Sam Altman

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Re: OpenAI Committed to Buying $51M of AI Chips from a Startup Backed by Sam Altman

#72
post #53

This kind of stuff is the reason why Altman was fired. The board lost trust for his honesty from many small things that kept accumulating. Altman is back on condition that there is a investigation.

What is "this kind of stuff"? I am confused as to what the accusation is. I understand that you should be looked at closely and scrutinised when there is a possible conflict of interest, but why would it be okay to vaguely assume foul play when it could just be someone who is committed to making something work? Better/more infrastructure is needed, as is evident every time I send a query to openai/ms. What is bad abo…

This is a kind of self-dealing, and at least a conflict of interest.

Re: OpenAI Committed to Buying $51M of AI Chips from a Startup Backed by Sam Altman

#73
post #53

This kind of stuff is the reason why Altman was fired. The board lost trust for his honesty from many small things that kept accumulating. Altman is back on condition that there is a investigation.

You don't know that for a fact, you're speculating

The firing was about "Altman not being honest with the board."

Since then, journalists have talked to both sides on and off the record and confirmed that the only reason for firing was distrust for Altman's honesty.

Altman's history seems to match. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/22/sam-alt...

>Four years ago, one of Altman’s mentors, Y Combinator founder Paul Graham, flew from the United Kingdom to San Francisco to give his protégé the boot, according to three people familiar with the incident, which has not been previously reported. .... he flew across the Atlantic with concerns that the company’s president put his own interests ahead of the organization — worries that would be echoed by OpenAI’s board.

>A separate concern, unrelated to his initial firing, was that Altman personally invested in start-ups he discovered through the incubator using a fund he created with his brother Jack — a kind of double-dipping for personal enrichment that was practiced by other founders and later limited by the organization.

“It was the school of loose management that is all about prioritizing what’s in it for me,”

Re: OpenAI Committed to Buying $51M of AI Chips from a Startup Backed by Sam Altman

#74
post #53

This kind of stuff is the reason why Altman was fired. The board lost trust for his honesty from many small things that kept accumulating. Altman is back on condition that there is a investigation.

Who can forget "the orb", altman seems like a complete clown who lucked into the holy grail that is openai: https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/03/21/sam-altman-orb-scan-ey...

Re: OpenAI Committed to Buying $51M of AI Chips from a Startup Backed by Sam Altman

#75

- You make a lot of money, do you? - I make, no, I paid enough for health insurance. I have no equity in OpenAI. - Really? That's interesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7FsL6GPesY&t=19s

Does anyone actually believe Altman has no financial incentive in his OpenAI work?

Bill Gates has been pledging to give away all his money for the last 20 years.. :-)

In 2008: "Bill Gates pledges to leave his £30billion fortune to charity... rather than his children" - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1027878/Bill-Gates-...

In 2022: "Bill Gates pledges to donate ‘virtually all’ of $113bn fortune to his foundation" - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/15/bill-gates-b...

In the meanwhile in 2023 is still the 6th richest. Giving money away is such a hard job :-))

Re: OpenAI Committed to Buying $51M of AI Chips from a Startup Backed by Sam Altman

#77
post #48

I'm as skeptical of OpenAI's dealings as anyone, but a $1m investment in a chip startup doesn't sound like he's a material owner. They've raised $33 million so far, minus the whole Prosperity7 divestiture kerfluffle (national security made a saudi-backed fund sell), so I'd be surprised if he owned in excess of 5%. It looks to me like exactly the kind of investment I would expect a wealthy angel to make in startups re…

Again the argument: "I am so rich I would not possibly be dishonest for such a small amounts..." ?

Man I would love if one of our minority shareholder angels told us they'll arrange the purchase of $51M worth of product. Imagine having 10 of those.

Re: OpenAI Committed to Buying $51M of AI Chips from a Startup Backed by Sam Altman

#78
post #53

This kind of stuff is the reason why Altman was fired. The board lost trust for his honesty from many small things that kept accumulating. Altman is back on condition that there is a investigation.

Was it or is this just projection?

There could be conflict of interest or it could also be that OpenAI has no desire to get into the chip business.

Re: OpenAI Committed to Buying $51M of AI Chips from a Startup Backed by Sam Altman

#79
post #74
post #53

This kind of stuff is the reason why Altman was fired. The board lost trust for his honesty from many small things that kept accumulating. Altman is back on condition that there is a investigation.

Who can forget "the orb", altman seems like a complete clown who lucked into the holy grail that is openai: https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/03/21/sam-altman-orb-scan-ey...

> The orb isn’t a perfect sphere but two halves that come together at an angle that matches the orbit of the Earth

Can't tell if this is meaningless, the reporter just failed to convey its actual meaning, or I am too dumb to understand

Re: OpenAI Committed to Buying $51M of AI Chips from a Startup Backed by Sam Altman

#80

I'm as skeptical of OpenAI's dealings as anyone, but a $1m investment in a chip startup doesn't sound like he's a material owner. They've raised $33 million so far, minus the whole Prosperity7 divestiture kerfluffle (national security made a saudi-backed fund sell), so I'd be surprised if he owned in excess of 5%. It looks to me like exactly the kind of investment I would expect a wealthy angel to make in startups re…

I tried to find estimates of Sam's net worth and found estimates from 250-700 million usd. However, it seems that most of his net worth is bound up in equity in private companies and startups[1]. 1 million usd could be a very substantial part of his liquid net worth. [1] https://www.thestreet.com/investors/sam-altman-net-worth-how...

For anyone who’s been in the high level SF tech scene for >15 years, $1M is not a substantial part of their liquid net worth. Certainly not for anyone who was in PGs inner circle 15 years ago.
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