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"King of the Cannibals": How Sam Altman Took over Silicon Valley

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Re: "King of the Cannibals": How Sam Altman Took over Silicon Valley

#161

Post by aubanel »

api wrote: post #111
plastic_enjoyer wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OpenAI is only one of many companies building AI. While ChatGPT and DALL-E are impressive, there are domains where those models are pretty much useless and other AI solutions are needed.

For hosted models I’ve noticed that Bard has been quietly improving. Was awful at first but now seems to be closing in. Actually-open AI with open weights and open source is innovating rapidly too, especially when it comes to making models more efficient on smaller hardware. We have fast local mixtures of experts now. Rumor is that Llama3 is training as well, and that it may be some kind of MoE. I feel like focusing…

If you have the most powerful model by far like they have, it's a radical adantage over competitors: your model can perform automatizations that they cannot do.

OpenAI's lead is phenomenal: remember that they managed to put GPT4 on top of the leaderboard for one year and counting, while all others (except maybe Anthropic) struggle to have their model in the top3 for more than a few months.

Re: "King of the Cannibals": How Sam Altman Took over Silicon Valley

#162

Post by ignoramous »

tptacek wrote: post #70

There's nothing in here you haven't already heard: * He's close with Peter Thiel * He's an ace networker (but, completing the stereotype, is also an introvert) * He left YC, not entirely voluntarily, because he was too committed to OpenAI to do the YC job * Echoing YC, the OpenAI board tried to oust him over concerns that he was being manipulative and pursuing outside interests (a chip firm) that conflicted with the…

You miss the part about his Universal Basic Income experiment with 3000 families set to conclude in 2024. Will be interesting to see Sam go all-in, provided results are positive.

Re: "King of the Cannibals": How Sam Altman Took over Silicon Valley

#163

Post by unityByFreedom »

solardev wrote: post #145
unityByFreedom wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet, he nearly lost his job. None of us are perfect, nor are any of us better than any other. Let's cut the idolizing.

Not many from us can go from "nearly losing the job" to "getting 95% of the employees to demand your return, firing the board that tried to oust him, and then returning with absolute power". There's something to be said about that, lol. Probably not even Musk has that kind of power.

That kind of "power" can turn on a dime. I'd be wary of it. In this case the mob learned they have influence when they work together. That doesn't mean they are loyal to Altman, rather that they are influential when united.

Re: "King of the Cannibals": How Sam Altman Took over Silicon Valley

#164

Post by peterfirefly »

svnt wrote: post #65
dbspin wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Altman's sister's 'memories' of abuse were developed in adulthood [1]. Recovered memories are deeply suspect, and a number of serious miscarriages of justice have happened because of them. Most infamously the 'satanic panic' trials of the eighties and early nineties. Elizabeth Loftus has done lots of good work on the dubious nature of eyewitness testimony, and recovered memories in particular [3]. Essentially, they'r…

Ah yes, the woman who provided paid testimony on behalf of Ghislaine Maxwell, Harvey Weinstein, OJ Simpson, Robert Durst, among others. Who better to invoke to smear another insufficiently diabolical human? https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/ghislaine-maxwell/false-... edit: If you want to get a clearer (or fuzzier) picture of this career expert witness, this piece in the New Yorker is fascinating: https://www.newyo…

> , among others.

Which includes the Duke Lacrosse players -- who were actually innocent.

I read the (long!) New Yorker article and I was left with three impressions: psychologists and their families are really weird people, I don't like her as a person, and she is right that memories aren't very reliable.

Re: "King of the Cannibals": How Sam Altman Took over Silicon Valley

#165

Post by figassis »

tptacek wrote: post #138
CPLX wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The political-science professors, perfectly sane men, look at me with wonder when I talk about the ruling class in America. They say, “You are one of those conspiracy theorists. You think there’s a headquarters and they get together at the Bohemian Grove and run the United States.” Well, they do get together at the Bohemian Grove and do a lot of picking of Secretaries of State, anyway. But they don’t have to conspir…

If you're trying to make a case that you're not a conspiracy theorist, your first cite probably shouldn't be Gore Vidal. But if you're just trying to be entertaining, he's hard to beat.

I don’t get it, are you saying that Sam Altman is not currently one of the most powerful and influential figures in the world, with the power to influence policy through deep pockets and connections? That he’s just an average Joe that has a CEO job like a million other CEOs?

Re: "King of the Cannibals": How Sam Altman Took over Silicon Valley

#166

Post by tptacek »

figassis wrote: post #165
tptacek wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're trying to make a case that you're not a conspiracy theorist, your first cite probably shouldn't be Gore Vidal. But if you're just trying to be entertaining, he's hard to beat.

I don’t get it, are you saying that Sam Altman is not currently one of the most powerful and influential figures in the world, with the power to influence policy through deep pockets and connections? That he’s just an average Joe that has a CEO job like a million other CEOs?

Yes, I am saying Altman is not in fact one of the most powerful and influential figures in the world. Also that Gore Vidal is a 9/11 truther.

Re: "King of the Cannibals": How Sam Altman Took over Silicon Valley

#167

Post by spacecadet »

jwoq9118 wrote: post #152
spacecadet wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually agree. While I more or less detest Musk and Dorsey, I do also appreciate as you put it, that they were able to build a leadership teams that can run the business while they go and about acting as the face of the business. Unfortunately I don't think they have succeeded fully at this, because to me their public image has now started to hurt their businesses...

Detest them for what?

Oh you know, they dont like to toss salads.

Re: "King of the Cannibals": How Sam Altman Took over Silicon Valley

#168

Post by spacecadet »

cdelsolar wrote: post #54
spacecadet wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually agree. While I more or less detest Musk and Dorsey, I do also appreciate as you put it, that they were able to build a leadership teams that can run the business while they go and about acting as the face of the business. Unfortunately I don't think they have succeeded fully at this, because to me their public image has now started to hurt their businesses...

Do you know them personally?

no, do you? Lets roll over there and fight one of them.

Re: "King of the Cannibals": How Sam Altman Took over Silicon Valley

#169

Post by defrost »

tptacek wrote: post #166
figassis wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t get it, are you saying that Sam Altman is not currently one of the most powerful and influential figures in the world, with the power to influence policy through deep pockets and connections? That he’s just an average Joe that has a CEO job like a million other CEOs?

Yes, I am saying Altman is not in fact one of the most powerful and influential figures in the world. Also that Gore Vidal is a 9/11 truther.

I've largely nodded along with you over the years but from the little I've read of Vidal's later years he wasn't a hard core truther (of the "they cut the steel and demolitioned the towers" ilk), more his usual cynic political realist self:

    I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I'm a conspiracy analyst.

    Everything the Bushites touch is screwed up. They could never have pulled off 9/11, even if they wanted to. Even if they longed to.

    They could step aside, though, or just go out to lunch while these terrible things were happening to the nation. I believe that of them.
~ Gore Vidal (2007) https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/may/05/featuresreview...

It's entirely possible that he went further than accusing Bush et al. of being asleep at the wheel and being overly fond of Saudi oil, if so I missed that particular descent into the abyss.

Re: "King of the Cannibals": How Sam Altman Took over Silicon Valley

#170

Post by alternative_a »

tptacek wrote: post #130
jwoq9118 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is entirely subjective. Hope you can see how this isn’t exactly a strong argument.

I'm still trying to figure out what the argument is.

The argument:

Rich people control the world.

Rich people own the media.

Rich people run boards.

Rich people built up cults of personality. Influencers to lend credibility for their long terms plans.

Rich people then pick a rich friend or ‘make’ a new friend, and then promote their friend.

Rich people’s friends typically after their role is done are found to be sociopaths and liars and frauds.

But this is OK because remember Rich people control the media.

Not rich people are going to be living in the shit society that Rich people are planning for not rich people. AI is to play big role.

Now, ask any further question, we all know you are smart so this confusion of yours is due to your world model.

Let’s discuss your world model.

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