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

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

#131

Post by platevoltage »

boringg wrote: post #120
Arainach wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no boom. There are massive layoffs, massive inflation, and massive cuts to government services - all caused by the actions of Musk, Altman, and those like them.

Saying there is no AI boom? You are either lying to yourself or not paying attention to whats whappening. Are there problems? Absolutely - there have been problems at every single second of humanity. We will always be plagued with problems at some times worse than others. That does not mean that there isn't a boom at the same time.

There is a boom, but It's a boom for a few thousand people in the country. Everyone else is seeing their energy bills go up, and I can't get a Raspberry Pi for under $100.

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

#133

Post by yifanl »

hx8 wrote: post #68
jjulius wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ... I still kind of want to try to believe he's not. Asking genuinely - why?

What if it's actually super-intelligence and a human aligned visionary is at the helm. The good case is very good.

If you give me a hundred dollars, I promise I'll come back tomorrow and hand you thirty trillion dollars.

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

#134

Post by mindslight »

platevoltage wrote: post #127
mindslight wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Democrats being only slightly less beholden to corporate interests and functioning as controlled opposition is exactly how we've gotten to the point we're at. I'd like to be optimistic and say that the backlash from the second Trump catastrophe will be a full 8 years of simmering authoritarianism rather than the current rolling boil , but that wasn't even true after 2020. I think media saturation has gotten so strong…

Yup. that's why we need new Democrats.

I agree. But Republicans found a new Republican who spoke to their longstanding frustrations and look what it's gotten us. Just sayin'.

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

#135

Post by funimpoded »

genxy wrote: post #128
elmomle wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He will say whatever it takes to get the result he wants. That's manipulative and, when pursued as a lifestyle, sociopathic. Living like that is corrupting. When you treat humans like objects, the question of your starting intentions is really secondary.

I like his tactic of talking to everyone individually to be able to tell each person exactly what they want to hear. I now use that one all the time.

Beware that there exist people who will cut you out of their lives—professional, personal, whatever—completely, likely with no warning, and possibly loudly, publicly, and with-receipts (if they’ve seen this kind of thing before or have thought through what your next steps will be after they cut you out) if they find out you do this.

All it takes is for a few of them to start comparing notes behind your back. Shit goes sideways extremely fast for people pulling this whose victims start talking to each other without them as the intermediary.

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

#136

Post by hx8 »

hluska wrote: post #113
hx8 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. The second coming of Christ would be a very good case. Why people want to believe Altman is good is about the same reason people want to believe in the second coming.

I’m really struggling to see how Christian apocalyptic ideas are even remotely relevant. We used to be capable of so much.

So much of the AI Hype is religion encoded. It's relevant because the AI companies are invoking the ideas. If you go around telling people that AI is going to cure cancer, bring about global prosperity, and give you an uploaded immortality then you cannot be surprised when some people start thinking of it similarly to the second coming.

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

#137

Post by shimman »

platevoltage wrote: post #127
mindslight wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Democrats being only slightly less beholden to corporate interests and functioning as controlled opposition is exactly how we've gotten to the point we're at. I'd like to be optimistic and say that the backlash from the second Trump catastrophe will be a full 8 years of simmering authoritarianism rather than the current rolling boil , but that wasn't even true after 2020. I think media saturation has gotten so strong…

Yup. that's why we need new Democrats.

If you want to help these new Democratic candidates, many are primary challengers that could use your help. I work on several Senate and Congressional campaigns, you wouldn't believe how impactful something as a simple well designed static site can be. There is a dearth of tech skills in these campaigns because they simply don't know alternatives.

Lots of low hanging fruit and very few people in the tech world can say they've worked on projects to improve the material lives of everyone by helping elect people that will implement medicare for all, universal childcare, and free school lunches.

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

#138

Post by shimman »

aerhardt wrote: post #86
threethirtytwo wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

For all his weirdness and moral failings, I don’t see Altman saying things like whites being under apartheid in the US. And worse. Multiple times a day. Every day.

Outcomes matter, when both people are leading you to undemocratic societies why should I care about their messaging when both result in worse material lives for 100s of millions of people?

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

#139

Post by torlok »

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.

Sounds a lot like what Musk does, except maybe that Musk uses his companies to outright bail himself out.

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

#140

Post by rurp »

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…

Remember when Altman was going around saying he doesn't take a salary, he's just doing the job for the good of humanity? It kind of blew my mind how many people believed him. Even on HN, where much of the community knew something about his pre-OpenAI days, there were plenty of credulous posts defending him as some sort of altruist.

I guess this is why we keep seeing transparent lies and scams from leading tech and business individuals; the lies often work.

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