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OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

theverge.com

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Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#441

Post by vikramkr »

015a wrote: post #384
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude, everyone already thinks the board did a crazy ill-advised thing. They're about to be the board of like a 5 person or so company if they double down and commit. To be honest I hate takes like yours, where people think that acknowledging a mistake (even a giant mistake) is a sign of weakness. A bigger sign of weakness in my opinion is people who commit to a shitty idea just because they said it first, despite all…

Bad take. Not "everyone" feels that what they did was wrong. We don't have insight into what's going on internally. Optics matter; the division over their decision means that its definitionally non-obvious what the correct path forward is; or, that there isn't one correct path, but multiple reasonable paths. To admit a mistake of this magnitude is to admit that you're either so unprincipled that your mind can be chan…

Whether or not you agree with the decision they obviously screwed up the execution something awful. This is humiliating for them and honestly setting altman free like they did was probably the permanent end of AI safety. Just take someone with all the connections and the ability to raise billions of dollars overnight and set them free without any of the shackles of AI ethics people in a way that makes all the people with money want to support him? That's how you get skynet

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#442

Post by lucubratory »

It's insane to me how easily Sam's side can spin the board firing him for violating the company's Charter and then not backtracking at all as "Within 24 hours the board has come crawling back, I- er Sam Altman might deign to return if they grovel hard enough and I'm given complete control."

This is really, really clearly incestuous tech media stuff as part of a pressure campaign. Sam is the darlin of tech media and he's clearly instigated this reporting because they're reporting his thoughts and not the Board's in an article that purports to know what the Board is thinking, the investors who aren't happy (the point of a non-profit is that they are allowed to make investors unhappy in pursuit of the greater mission!) have an obvious incentive to join him in this pressure campaign, and then all he needs for "journalism" is one senior employee who's willing to leave for Sam to instead say to the Verge that the Board is reconsidering. Boom, massive pressure campaign and perception of the Board flip flopping without them doing any such thing. If they had done any such thing and there was proof of that, the Verge could have quoted the thoughts of anyone on the Board, stated it had reviewed communications and verified they were genuine, etc.

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#443

Post by adrr »

skygazer wrote: post #26

Man, the board already looked reckless and incompetent, but this solidifies the appearance. You can do crazy ill-advised things, but if you unwaveringly commit, we’ll always wonder if you’re secretly a genius. But when you immediately backtrack, we’ll know you were a fool all along.

If the board brings him back. They are done including the chief scientist. Can't stage a coup and just to bring the person back the next week

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#444

Post by no_wizard »

insanitybit wrote: post #423
no_wizard wrote: post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe. Or maybe they can profit differently going forward. Sam is not the reason OpenAI is gangbusters, its tech is. What I’m not hearing in any of this reporting is how Sam Altman is somehow the secret sauce. And it’s because he isn’t. This is “rules for thee but not for me”. He as a bad fit, 2/3 the board outed him, and investors are mad because they didn’t feel included. You know, like how they include employees i…

> And it’s because he isn’t. This is “rules for thee but not for me”. He as a bad fit, 2/3 the board outed him, and investors are mad because they didn’t feel included. The fact that they're openly considering bringing him back should tell you that he's not just some random person whose job anyone can do. He's extremely well connected and was the face of the company - the face of deals that the company made. And you…

Maybe

Then again, maybe he has been making life less than desirable for the rank and file. Perhaps, even, they felt he was a bad fit for the company too. I don’t know, because I don’t work there.

If this is the case, good time to start hiring away engineers to another firm.

He may be the face, but faces change. Sam Altman isn’t t the only person capable of taking the reins. There is nothing about him that is more “magic” in this case, because the tech is always been their selling point. I think any competent CEO could sell the hell out of OpenAI right now

In as so far as bringing him back: I don’t know the validity nor veracity of those discussions. That news hit a little fast to me to have been fully fleshed out. Not saying it’s untrue, but “some of the board” talking isn’t the same thing as all of the board, either

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#445

Post by [deleted] »

skygazer wrote: post #26

Man, the board already looked reckless and incompetent, but this solidifies the appearance. You can do crazy ill-advised things, but if you unwaveringly commit, we’ll always wonder if you’re secretly a genius. But when you immediately backtrack, we’ll know you were a fool all along.

[deleted]

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#447

Post by dougmwne »

abi wrote: post #190
tysam_and wrote: post #33

It could be that Microsoft is leveraging them to bring him back. This board may seem mercurial at the moment, but we really, truly, and honestly still do not have the big picture yet.

How are they leveraging them? My understanding is Microsoft has no power over the board.

Riddle me this: what is an AI research lab without access to exascale compute? Who’s cloud infrastructure do they depend on fully right now?

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#448

Post by no_wizard »

bnralt wrote: post #424
no_wizard wrote: post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not for the better why? Obviously Sam wasn’t the best fit for OpenAI and investors aren’t even saying what the problem is. Clearly the board feels he was the wrong person for the job. I think it’s ridiculous that everything thinks that Sam being outed means OpenAI is in trouble. Let this play out and see how it evolves

> Obviously Sam wasn’t the best fit for OpenAI It's quite possible that he wasn't the best fit, and that the board is an even worse fit. Judging by the behavior of the board, it's hard to see them being a good fit for the company.

Based on the firing? Because that’s all I think we (the public) have any insight into.

I’m saying there is a reason this happened and 2/3 the board agreed. It needs to play out further for us to see if there is a problem here or not, honestly.

I find it hard to believe you can effectively muster a mandate worth of votes based on opinion alone

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#449

Post by johnwheeler »

hitekker wrote: post #440
johnwheeler wrote: post #18

Are you fucking kidding me? OK. OK. I’ve said this my whole career. Engineers are the most emotional specie of worker. There is a grand delusion that engineers are rational. This just goes to show how irrational they are. Snap reactions like this: sign of a brilliant but fucked up engineer. I am an engineer. I am under no illusion that I’m rational. Quite the opposite.

What was top comment yesterday becomes a farce today https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38313026 > Don’t piss off an irreplaceable engineer or they’ll fire you. not taking any sides here. One scientist's power trip (Ilya is not an engineer) triggers the power fantasy of the extremely online.

It’s of Shakespearean proportions. I’m learning along with the rest how these tunings unfold!

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#450

Post by ykonstant »

kelsey9876543 wrote: post #389
ykonstant wrote: post #163

This is unfathomably depressing for me; I am solidly in the non-profit, open etc. camp, and the way the board has handled the situation seems to be putting a tombstone to any opponents to Altman's way of doing things: profits uber alles, moats galore, non-profit-wink-wink-nudge-nudge; an unmitigated disaster.

If you want more open research and development, you should be happy for a closed OpenAI. It's why we have Mistral. Let the org redefine itself and push new boundaries. If we didn't have commercial unix there would be no linux. Allow the path to be blazed by VC, it's not about open technology being first, it's about it even existing at all.

Uhh... sure; whatever.
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