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OpenAI board reappoints Altman and adds three other directors

reuters.com

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Re: OpenAI board reappoints Altman and adds three other directors

#181

Post by drak0n1c »

minimaxir wrote: post #8

> The company will also announce the appointment of three new directors, Sue Desmond-Hellmann, a former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Nicole Seligman, a former president of Sony Entertainment, and Fidji Simo, CEO of Instacart, the Information said. This selection of directors seems...random? Is there a business reason for these directors? (aside from the obvious YC link with Instacart)

Nicole Seligman's husband Joel Klein famously prosecuted Microsoft with anti-trust in 2001. Time heals all wounds as they say.

Interestingly, soon after Seligman left Sony Entertainment in 2016 it started compelling PlayStation devs to censor character depictions and dialog - by 2018 this policy from California HQ was even imposed on long-loyal Japanese studios who made games solely for the Japanese market. I wonder what her opinion is on AI bias/safety given what happened at her old company.

Re: OpenAI board reappoints Altman and adds three other directors

#182

Post by baking »

nozzlegear wrote: post #96
DSingularity wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We (humans) are so cheap and easily deceived. They pick us large salaries and we build whatever. They pander and we become subservient.

Do you feel that none of them have any merit outside of them being women, and that there was some kind of “best potential OpenAI director” exam that all men are required to take but these three were allowed to skip because of their gender? Is that the deception?

Well, in the whole brouhaha back in November many people pointed out that two women were forced off the board and replaced with two men.

Re: OpenAI board reappoints Altman and adds three other directors

#183

Post by mr_toad »

tptacek wrote: post #59
chrisfosterelli wrote: post #15

I'm not necessarily saying they're wrong, but there's really no way to put out a release like this without a "history is written by the victors" vibe coming across.

He pretty clearly won. There's not much to it. A huge chunk of the company went into open revolt and he got a competing offer that threatened to recruit all of them. There's nothing really underhanded or sneaky about it: the board drastically overplayed their hand, and all Altman and Brockman had to do was say "I call". To use the parlance of this community of people: people's priors here all seem to be that somethin…

I doubt there’s a precedent for a CEO of a “non-profit” effectively answerable to no-one and able to use it as their personal fiefdom. It’s basically a company without shareholders. I’m curious how this will play out legally.

Certainly, no one with any sense will be “donating” any money in OpenAI without some strong and specific guarantees of what they’re going to be getting in return. So it can in no way can be considered a non-profit any more.

And if the situation is allowed to stand then I think future donors to any non-profits might think more carefully about what their money will be used for.

Re: OpenAI board reappoints Altman and adds three other directors

#184

Post by mustache_kimono »

mr_toad wrote: post #183
tptacek wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He pretty clearly won. There's not much to it. A huge chunk of the company went into open revolt and he got a competing offer that threatened to recruit all of them. There's nothing really underhanded or sneaky about it: the board drastically overplayed their hand, and all Altman and Brockman had to do was say "I call". To use the parlance of this community of people: people's priors here all seem to be that somethin…

I doubt there’s a precedent for a CEO of a “non-profit” effectively answerable to no-one and able to use it as their personal fiefdom. It’s basically a company without shareholders. I’m curious how this will play out legally. Certainly, no one with any sense will be “donating” any money in OpenAI without some strong and specific guarantees of what they’re going to be getting in return. So it can in no way can be cons…

> Certainly, no one with any sense will be “donating” any money in OpenAI without some strong and specific guarantees of what they’re going to be getting in return.

And what about the taxpayer? What are these guys/gals fighting over if it isn't future profits?

Has anyone else read the reporting on the non-profit's corp structure?

> OpenAI also created a subsidiary of For-Profit-LP, OpenAI LLC (let’s call that “For-Profit-LLC”), of which Microsoft is a minority owner and For-Profit-LP is the majority owner. For-Profit-LLC’s operating agreement cautions that “it would be wise to view an investment in [For-Profit-LLC] in the spirit of a donation, with the understanding that it may be difficult to know what role money will play in a post-AGI [artificial general intelligence] world.”[0]

I really have no idea why companies like Microsoft are putting so much money into a for profit entity, and calling it like a donation. Am I just skeptical or is everyone winking at each other, and acting too cute by half?

[0]: https://clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu/2024/03/05/the-untold-no...

Re: OpenAI board reappoints Altman and adds three other directors

#185

Post by jimkleiber »

pests wrote: post #144
coffeebeqn wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still don’t understand the safety concerns. I see a 0% chance that we can control a superhuman AI. What could ants invent to keep humans aligned with them? Alignment meaning that people would think of ants first instead of whatever their current ranking is. Maybe they’re in the top 10000 priorities

Can you describe how it would be uncontrollable to us? Everyone says this but no one has any details. Also, > What could ants invent to keep humans aligned with them? I think humans aren't _not_ aligned with ants. I don't go out searching to destroy all ants, or really worry at all, we just kinda coexist.

I'd say there's probably more human indifference to ants than anything. Maybe some hatred. Probably not a lot of love.

Re: OpenAI board reappoints Altman and adds three other directors

#186

Post by jimkleiber »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #180
coffeebeqn wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still don’t understand the safety concerns. I see a 0% chance that we can control a superhuman AI. What could ants invent to keep humans aligned with them? Alignment meaning that people would think of ants first instead of whatever their current ranking is. Maybe they’re in the top 10000 priorities

What could ants invent to keep humans aligned with them? Well, the bees figured it out.

Kinda. We've invented many things to control and/or kill bees.

Re: OpenAI board reappoints Altman and adds three other directors

#187

Post by wnc3141 »

flatline wrote: post #82
tptacek wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He pretty clearly won. There's not much to it. A huge chunk of the company went into open revolt and he got a competing offer that threatened to recruit all of them. There's nothing really underhanded or sneaky about it: the board drastically overplayed their hand, and all Altman and Brockman had to do was say "I call". To use the parlance of this community of people: people's priors here all seem to be that somethin…

Or the more cynical take that this is the natural course all parties take when they discover themselves atop a large pile of money. The board was just outmaneuvered.

this is inevitable. Organizational design turns out to be critical in aligning interests and incentives from the outset across all organizations throughout history - from the Roman Empire to Open AI

Re: OpenAI board reappoints Altman and adds three other directors

#188

Post by im3w1l »

wnc3141 wrote: post #187
flatline wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or the more cynical take that this is the natural course all parties take when they discover themselves atop a large pile of money. The board was just outmaneuvered.

this is inevitable. Organizational design turns out to be critical in aligning interests and incentives from the outset across all organizations throughout history - from the Roman Empire to Open AI

It's amazingly ironic that a charity focused on aligning AI couldn't even align its own CEO.

Re: OpenAI board reappoints Altman and adds three other directors

#189

Post by Jensson »

baking wrote: post #171
RetpolineDrama wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>He pretty clearly won. There's not much to it. A huge chunk of the company went into open revolt and he got a competing offer that threatened to recruit all of them. Yep, talk about an absolute power flex. You don't have to like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

He went from controlling three seats on a six-member board to having one seat "as CEO" of a seven-member board looking to add even more independent members. Also, he can't pull the "the board can fire me at any time" card with a straight face anymore. He kept his job, but he didn't win by any stretch. There is a good chance he will move on to another role.

The current members are almost all from for-profit backgrounds, they are on Sams side here.
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