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Leaked OpenAI documents reveal aggressive tactics toward former employees

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Re: Leaked OpenAI documents reveal aggressive tactics toward former employees

#361

Post by minimaxir »

xawxaw wrote: post #358
minimaxir wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Semi off-topic, but the trend of AI influencers adopting the all-lowercase communication style in professional conversation has been very annoying. It makes them appear completely unserious. I recently received an job recruitment email for an AI role in all-lowercase and I was baffled how to interpret it.

> I recently received an job recruitment email Yet you use "an" for a vowel that's miles away, so I don't like the way you type either.

did you create a HN account just to point out a typo

Re: Leaked OpenAI documents reveal aggressive tactics toward former employees

#362

Post by flembat »

tivert wrote: post #355

Can't we all just go back to being positive and amazed with OpenAI and it's technology? Why does everyone have to be so negative about tech?

I also welcome our new AI overlords.

It's not really the tech that is negative it is the humans manipulating it for profit and power, and behaving obnoxiously. The tech is very useful.

Re: Leaked OpenAI documents reveal aggressive tactics toward former employees

#363

Post by tivert »

dustincoates wrote: post #345
ra7 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think it’s only AI influencers that do this. I’ve noticed people use lowercase as some sort of power move. Like they’re so busy and important they don’t care about conventions.

Something similar I've noticed--there's a certain level people reach within a company where they're now too busy to type out "thank you" or even "thanks." Now "thx" is all they have time for.

> Something similar I've noticed--there's a certain level people reach within a company where they're now too busy to type out "thank you" or even "thanks." Now "thx" is all they have time for.

"thx" is way to verbose for anyone but a plebs, the real power brokers use "ty." Or they don't thank anyone at all, because they know just bothering to read the message they got is thanks enough.

Re: Leaked OpenAI documents reveal aggressive tactics toward former employees

#364

Post by tdeck »

0x5f3759df-i wrote: post #2

but sam said he was sorry in all lowercase so it must be okay

It looks especially odd when the text contains other "formalities" like semicolons, or writing the phrase "full stop".

Aside: "full stop" is the Commonwealth English way of saying "period" so it seems like an affectation to see an American using it.

Re: Leaked OpenAI documents reveal aggressive tactics toward former employees

#365

Post by reaperman »

squigz wrote: post #69
NotSammyHagar wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reads like more than standard restrictions. I hate those like everyone, they are just intended to chill complaints in my opinion with enough question to scare average people without legal expertise (like me, like most devs), just like non-competes used to seemingly primarily be used to discourage looking at other jobs, separate from whether it was enforceable - note the recent FTC decision to end non-competes. A…

If it's non-enforceable, but you signed it, wouldn't that make the contract void? I suppose there's probably a bunch of legalese to prevent that though...

At most it would just make that part of the contract void. Almost all contracts with stuff like this would have a “severability” clause which states like if one part of the contract is invalid, the rest is still valid.

But even without that, judges have huge amounts of leeway to “create” an ex post facto contract and say “heres the version if that contract you would have agreed to, this is now the contract you signed”. A sort of “fixed” version of the contract.

Re: Leaked OpenAI documents reveal aggressive tactics toward former employees

#366

Post by flembat »

elevatedastalt wrote: post #171
poszlem wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are correct. It's a status symbol at this point. It's the digital version of "inconspicuous consumption" [1]. [1] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/inconsp...

No, this is a status symbol because it's a signal that these people are above norms of conventional society. What's worse is that there's a ready line of journalists talking about how capital letters promote inequality or shit like that providing coverfire for them.

I think it is because people are often typing onto a sheet of glass on a packed train..

Re: Leaked OpenAI documents reveal aggressive tactics toward former employees

#367

Post by dragonwriter »

reaperman wrote: post #365
squigz wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's non-enforceable, but you signed it, wouldn't that make the contract void? I suppose there's probably a bunch of legalese to prevent that though...

At most it would just make that part of the contract void. Almost all contracts with stuff like this would have a “severability” clause which states like if one part of the contract is invalid, the rest is still valid. But even without that, judges have huge amounts of leeway to “create” an ex post facto contract and say “heres the version if that contract you would have agreed to, this is now the contract you signed…

> At most it would just make that part of the contract void. Almost all contracts with stuff like this would have a “severability” clause which states like if one part of the contract is invalid, the rest is still valid.

Severability clauses themselves are not necessarily valid; whether provisions can be severed and how without voiding the contract is itself a legal question that depends on the specific terms and circumstances.

Re: Leaked OpenAI documents reveal aggressive tactics toward former employees

#368

Post by fcarraldo »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #332
tedivm wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have worked for multiple startups (Malwarebytes, Vicarious, Rad AI, Explosion AI, Aptible, Kenna Security). Not once have I seen an exit agreement that stated they would steal back my vested equity if I didn't sign. This is definitely not "standard restrictions".

How is malwarebytes a startup? They were a thing when I was a baby!

People on this site have been working in this industry longer than you. Some longer than you have been alive, it sounds like.

Re: Leaked OpenAI documents reveal aggressive tactics toward former employees

#369

Post by lyu07282 »

tedivm wrote: post #6

If this really was a mistake the easiest way to deal with it would be to release people from their non disparagement agreements that were only signed by leaving employees under the duress of losing their vested equity. It's really easy to make people whole for this, so whether that happens or not is the difference between the apologies being real or just them just backpedaling because employees got upset. Edit: Looks…

> Looks like they're doing the right thing here:

Well, no:

> We're removing nondisparagement clauses from our standard departure paperwork, and we're releasing former employees from existing nondisparagement obligations unless the nondisparagement provision was mutual. We'll communicate this message to former employees.

So the former successfully blackmailed employees, stay blackmailed.

Re: Leaked OpenAI documents reveal aggressive tactics toward former employees

#370

Post by huygens6363 »

hehdhdjehehegwv wrote: post #311
a_bonobo wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So common in academia! The student writes a detailed, error-checked, well-edited long email only to receive an answer like 'yes plaese Sent from my iPhone' Definitely a 'I'm very busy look at me' powermove

Actually they probably are that busy and aren’t trying to impress students, they’re trying to grade a bunch of exams while reviewing a paper while writing up research while writing a grant and also having a personal life.

nah i dontt hnk so

Sent from my iPhone

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