OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

Post by croes » Sat, Nov 18, 2023, 11:50 PM UTC

jmyeet wrote: post #226

This boards needs to be fired. Every single one of them. I don't understand how Microsoft, after having invested billions, doesn't have a board seat. If they did, I doubt this would've ever happened. I'm not sure why Microsoft let that happen. But even ignoring that, the board making a decision as impactful as this without consulting their major investors is a dereliction of duty. That alone justifies getting rid of…

Post by silenced_trope » Sat, Nov 18, 2023, 11:50 PM UTC

xianshou wrote: post #214

Whether you side with Sam or Ilya on rollout speed and approach to safety, the breathtaking incompetence of this coup has already incinerated a stunning amount of trust. One could hardly ask for a better demonstration that it matters not only what you do and why , but also how - above all, how you treat the ones who rely on you.

Post by vatueil » Sat, Nov 18, 2023, 11:50 PM UTC

gkoberger wrote: post #90

mycologos wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think they could have won in the court of public opinion ... [but] they tried to skewer him, and it backfired completely Maybe we have different definitions of "the court of public opinion". Most people don't know who Sam Altman is, and most of the people who do know don't have strong opinions on his performance as OpenAI's CEO. Even on HN, the reaction to the board "skwer[ing] him" has been pretty mixed, and mos…

I mean, they're (allegedly) trying to get him to come back 24 hours later... so it's safe to say it did indeed backfire completely. Sure, the average person doesn't care about Sam. But among the people who matter, Sam certainly came out on top.

Post by tempestn » Sat, Nov 18, 2023, 11:51 PM UTC

naremu wrote: post #230

Jensson wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

To be honest, as far as I can tell, the case FOR Sam seems to largely be of the status quo "Well, idk, he's been rich and successful for years, surely this correlates and we must keep them" type of coddling those in uber superior positions in society. Which seems like it probably is a self fulfilling prophecy. The private sector lottery winners seem to be awarded kingdoms at an alarming rate. There's been lots of peo…

Post by ergocoder » Sat, Nov 18, 2023, 11:52 PM UTC

ilaksh wrote: post #148

no_wizard wrote: post #66

He was outed for a reason. Why in the world would the board backtrack this? I think this is rumor mill reporting, trying to get things out too fast.

The only reasons I can think of: A. Core team members leaving (perhaps more threatening to leave). B. (maybe more likely) Nadella told Sutskever that he might shut off funding or restrict compute resources if he didn't reverse course, or at least, wasn't able to retain talent (see A).