OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO • Hacker News Board

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#121

Post by gkoberger » Sat, Nov 18, 2023, 11:18 PM UTC

jstummbillig wrote: post #47

skygazer wrote: post #26

Man, the board already looked reckless and incompetent, but this solidifies the appearance. You can do crazy ill-advised things, but if you unwaveringly commit, we’ll always wonder if you’re secretly a genius. But when you immediately backtrack, we’ll know you were a fool all along.

That seems a lot be better than doubling down on a bad mistake to save face, but we do care quite a bit about about looking strong, don't we.

Not really. By reaching out to Sam this quickly, they're giving him significant leverage. I really like Sam, but everyone needs a counterbalance (especially given what's at stake).

And if they were right to fire Sam, they're now reacting too quickly to negative backlash. 24 hours ago they thought this was the right move; the only change has been perception.

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#122

Post by paulddraper » Sat, Nov 18, 2023, 11:18 PM UTC

nwoli wrote: post #102

janejeon wrote: post #40

I mean, I don't see how anyone can expect him to come back after the public bridge burning and condemnation. I think it's reasonable to think that, if anyone were in his shoes, they, too, would feel too hurt/exasperated to go back to the people who caused all of... this to them.

Well he seems pretty sold on the AGI idea and starting from scratch at a new place without the same data or same compute is quite the challenge

Not when you have as many billions as he will have

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#123

Post by autaut » Sat, Nov 18, 2023, 11:19 PM UTC

Jensson wrote: post #52

gkoberger wrote: post #24

I'd bet money Satya was a driver of this reversal. I genuinely can't believe the board didn't see this coming. I think they could have won in the court of public opinion if their press release said they loved Sam but felt like his skills and ambitions diverged from their mission. But instead, they tried to skewer him, and it backfired completely. I hope Sam comes back. He'll make a lot more money if he doesn't, but I…

> I hope Sam comes back Why? We would have more diversity in this space if he leaves, which would get us another AI startup with huge funding and know how from OpenAI, while OpenAI would become less Sam Altman like. I think him staying is bad for the field overall compared to OpenAI splitting in two.

I really don’t, I really think that he is going to be disaster. He is nothing but the representative of the money interests who are eventually will use the company to vastly profit on everyone’s else skin.

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#124

Post by CamperBob2 » Sat, Nov 18, 2023, 11:19 PM UTC

steveBK123 wrote: post #85

Sutskever’s coup went about as well as Prigozhin‘s coup.

Yep. He's done. When you strike at the king, you must kill him.

At a minimum it's going to be awkward in the men's room for a while.

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#125

Post by corethree » Sat, Nov 18, 2023, 11:19 PM UTC

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #54

You know, I always found Mike judge to probably be the most prescient of all of the science fiction authors. In Office Space, Idiocracy, and most relevant here in Silicon Valley; he accurately, and very precisely not only forecasts, but deconstructs the reasoning, and vapid lack of core philosophy behind each of the real life narratives he’s parodying. That serious people still consider Silicon Valley as some kind of…

What you're not realizing is that it's like this everywhere. It's not exclusive to SV. Politics is part of human life. Adults are just kids with money.

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#126

Post by latortuga » Sat, Nov 18, 2023, 11:19 PM UTC

paulddraper wrote: post #104

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #54

You know, I always found Mike judge to probably be the most prescient of all of the science fiction authors. In Office Space, Idiocracy, and most relevant here in Silicon Valley; he accurately, and very precisely not only forecasts, but deconstructs the reasoning, and vapid lack of core philosophy behind each of the real life narratives he’s parodying. That serious people still consider Silicon Valley as some kind of…

SV... Like high tech companies? Venture capital? The TV show? What do you mean by that?

Mentioned in the same sentence as Idiocracy and Office Space, GP is referring to the show.

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#127

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Nov 18, 2023, 11:20 PM UTC

johnwheeler wrote: post #18

Are you fucking kidding me? OK. OK. I’ve said this my whole career. Engineers are the most emotional specie of worker. There is a grand delusion that engineers are rational. This just goes to show how irrational they are. Snap reactions like this: sign of a brilliant but fucked up engineer. I am an engineer. I am under no illusion that I’m rational. Quite the opposite.

[deleted]