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Sam Altman's Business Dealings Under GOP Scrutiny Ahead of OpenAI's IPO

wsj.com

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Re: Sam Altman's Business Dealings Under GOP Scrutiny Ahead of OpenAI's IPO

#21

Post by IG_Semmelweiss »

The thesis is as follows:

OpenAI receives funds as a non-profit.

Some of those funds are redirected to for profit ventures.

Critically, the GM (Altman) of the nonprofit owns shares of the for-profit ventures, that OpenAI funds were redirected into.

A regular company could and does invest in any company even when there's a conflict, as long as the conflict is disclosed and the Board votes in favor of it. There's no criminal element there.

The problem is introduced in Altman's case if

(a) there was no disclosure (red flag) and/or

(b) nonprofit that received the funds, is putting money into things not aligned with the 501(c)(3) mission.

I'm not sure if either (a) or (b) are criminal, but they don't pass the smell test, which is why Altman is being sued in civil court, unrelated to the congressional investigation talked about in the article

Re: Sam Altman's Business Dealings Under GOP Scrutiny Ahead of OpenAI's IPO

#22

Post by pj_mukh »

dmix wrote: post #17
pj_mukh wrote: post #8

So, the protection racket is not working? [1] Maybe some folks need to re-think whether this administration is worth "donating" to? [1]: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/openai-exec-becomes-top-trump...

This story is about congressmen and state attorneys calling for an SEC investigation, not the executive Which was motivated by a WSJ investigation into Sam’s personal dealings https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/chatgpt-openai-ipo-altman-029ae6...

and famously this executive doesn't over-reach to protect "its own"?

Re: Sam Altman's Business Dealings Under GOP Scrutiny Ahead of OpenAI's IPO

#23

Post by boringg »

mrhottakes wrote: post #16
MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does everyone else suffer? We’re getting subsidized compute.

Look around at the country right now

Nothing to do with Altman v Musk. That would be an AI boom that would be going full steam ahead without either of them.

Re: Sam Altman's Business Dealings Under GOP Scrutiny Ahead of OpenAI's IPO

#25

Post by boringg »

IG_Semmelweiss wrote: post #21

The thesis is as follows: OpenAI receives funds as a non-profit. Some of those funds are redirected to for profit ventures. Critically, the GM (Altman) of the nonprofit owns shares of the for-profit ventures, that OpenAI funds were redirected into. A regular company could and does invest in any company even when there's a conflict, as long as the conflict is disclosed and the Board votes in favor of it. There's no cr…

Doesn't Sam Altman famously not own OpenAI? His whole arrangement is so shady.

Re: Sam Altman's Business Dealings Under GOP Scrutiny Ahead of OpenAI's IPO

#26

Post by bluefirebrand »

boringg wrote: post #20
voakbasda wrote: post #7

Does anyone really believe this is more than performative? Increasingly the most likely outcome of such scrutiny is… nothing. He hasn’t stolen enough from the rich to earn any sort of punishment, and he’s not doing anything too different from the Congress critters that are “investigating” him.

"hasn’t stolen enough from the rich to earn any sort of punishment". Do you truly believe this is how the world works?

Its definitely how America works right now

Re: Sam Altman's Business Dealings Under GOP Scrutiny Ahead of OpenAI's IPO

#27

Post by tinfoilhatter »

miltonlost wrote: post #12
laurels-marts wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you complaining that government is not corrupt enough?

He's saying "hey, maybe stop donating to Republicans expecting them to help you out when in reality they will screw over anyone but themselves and especially don't donate to them when the GOP is aggressively homophobic and wants to get rid of your existence entirely"

I didn't see anything related to homophobia in the comment or any replies except yours...

Re: Sam Altman's Business Dealings Under GOP Scrutiny Ahead of OpenAI's IPO

#28

Post by JumpCrisscross »

boringg wrote: post #20
voakbasda wrote: post #7

Does anyone really believe this is more than performative? Increasingly the most likely outcome of such scrutiny is… nothing. He hasn’t stolen enough from the rich to earn any sort of punishment, and he’s not doing anything too different from the Congress critters that are “investigating” him.

"hasn’t stolen enough from the rich to earn any sort of punishment". Do you truly believe this is how the world works?

> Do you truly believe this is how the world works?

It’s a popular meme in Silicon Valley. Hence all the stealing.

Re: Sam Altman's Business Dealings Under GOP Scrutiny Ahead of OpenAI's IPO

#29

Post by baggachipz »

graemep wrote: post #19

> The moves follow an April article in The Wall Street Journal that detailed Altman’s efforts to have OpenAI back companies he personally invested in. Sounds a bit like Wework.

Everything about OpenAI sounds like WeWork. Can't wait to see that S1, I'll need a truckload of popcorn.

Re: Sam Altman's Business Dealings Under GOP Scrutiny Ahead of OpenAI's IPO

#30

Post by threethirtytwo »

avaer wrote: post #5
SkipperCat wrote: post #4

I can't help but think that this is due to Musk putting pressure on the current administration to help him win his lawsuit and punish Altman.

Personal vendettas between the world's most powerful psychopaths playing out in the stock market while everyone else suffers does seem like the current meta. So it makes sense.

God why do people frame things in such extremes? Neither person is a psychopath. If anyone is closer to a psychopath it’s Altman, but he doesn’t completely fit the monicker.
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