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OpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equity

reuters.com

21–30 of 70 posts

Re: OpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equity

#21
post #9

> Since then, OpenAI's board has been refreshed with more tech executives, chaired by Bret Taylor, former Salesforce co-CEO who now runs his own AI startup. Any corporate changes need approval from its nine-person non-profit board. Why would the non-profit board approve a change to a for-profit company? Wouldn't this be against the nature of the non-profit entity that was founded and which they are supposed to govern…

Here are the board members just to save anyone else looking it up:

Bret Taylor (Chair), Sam Altman, Adam D’Angelo, Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, Retired U.S. Army General Paul M. Nakasone, Nicole Seligman, Fidji Simo, Larry Summers and Zico Kolter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bret_Taylor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_D%27Angelo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Desmond-Hellmann

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Nakasone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicole_Seligman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidji_Simo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Summers

https://csd.cmu.edu/people/faculty/zico-kolter

Re: OpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equity

#22
post #19

It is weird that I get this news item from my local general interest newspaper in Europe but not from the HN front page, isn't it? Posted another source ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41653028 ) since I feel this needs a discussion. This one has a more descriptive headline though.

I also am a bit mystified as to why this isn't trending to the front.

Re: OpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equity

#23
post #19

It is weird that I get this news item from my local general interest newspaper in Europe but not from the HN front page, isn't it? Posted another source ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41653028 ) since I feel this needs a discussion. This one has a more descriptive headline though.

Currently there is another OpenAI story on the front page about about Mira Murati leaving [1], and a couple of comments there are also talking about this news of OpenAI removing non-profit control [2] [3].

I tend to agree that this is the bigger story and more worthy of being on the front page, but HN tends to enjoy a bit of celebrity gossip so not surprising to me that the news of the CTO leaving would get more traction.

I don't think it's any sort of conspiracy if that's what you're implying.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41651038

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41653013

[3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41651601

Re: OpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equity

#24
post #19

It is weird that I get this news item from my local general interest newspaper in Europe but not from the HN front page, isn't it? Posted another source ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41653028 ) since I feel this needs a discussion. This one has a more descriptive headline though.

Currently there is another OpenAI story on the front page about about Mira Murati leaving [1], and a couple of comments there are also talking about this news of OpenAI removing non-profit control [2] [3]. I tend to agree that this is the bigger story and more worthy of being on the front page, but HN tends to enjoy a bit of celebrity gossip so not surprising to me that the news of the CTO leaving would get more trac…

I see what you mean, but at the same time there is a value in this being discussed on its own. The celebrity gossip story is currently covering up the actual important news. (Yeah, I'll go with with that conspiracy theory, also known as a classic PR move.)

Re: OpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equity

#25
post #19

It is weird that I get this news item from my local general interest newspaper in Europe but not from the HN front page, isn't it? Posted another source ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41653028 ) since I feel this needs a discussion. This one has a more descriptive headline though.

I also am a bit mystified as to why this isn't trending to the front.

Not sure, but HN might down weight reuters due to paywall, and this story seems to be a Reuters-exclusive.

Re: OpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equity

#26

Seems like a good time for a rebrand to remove "Open" from the name. Maybe "InevitableAI"?

How this not in the front page of HN is really beyond me.

I asked ChatGPT this simple question and the responses are really commendable and a bit hilarious:

Prompt: Since OpenAI the owner of the ChatGPT has removed non-profit control of OpenAI and gave Sam Altman equity what is the more appropriate alternative name to OpenAI now?

Answers: Given the shift in OpenAI's structure from a non-profit to a more profit-oriented model, a name like "AltmanAI" could be seen as more reflective of its current leadership and business model. Alternatively, something like "ProfitAI" or "EquityAI" could highlight the focus on profitability and equity distribution, though these might come across as blunt or satirical.

However, if the goal is to preserve a sense of innovation and artificial intelligence leadership while reflecting the new profit-driven focus, names like "InnovativeAI" or "EnterpriseAI" could also work. These names could better align with the organization's current direction while maintaining a forward-thinking brand identity.

Re: OpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equity

#28
post #19

It is weird that I get this news item from my local general interest newspaper in Europe but not from the HN front page, isn't it? Posted another source ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41653028 ) since I feel this needs a discussion. This one has a more descriptive headline though.

I also am a bit mystified as to why this isn't trending to the front.

It's probably because of the poorly-designed "flamewar detector" that censors posts if they are upvoted/downvoted too quickly. @dang explained it to me a few weeks ago[1] on another YC-related post that conveniently got scrubbed from the front page.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41510285

Re: OpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equity

#29
I'm a bit concerned about how this might impact their commitment to AI safety though. The non-profit structure was supposed to be a safeguard against profit-driven decision making. Will they still prioritize responsible AI development as a regular for-profit company?
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