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OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

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Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#461

Post by BudaDude »

alberth wrote: post #197

Has anyone asked ChatGPT it's thoughts on the drama?

> As a language model created by OpenAI, I don't have personal thoughts or emotions, nor am I in any danger. My function is to provide information and assistance based on the data I've been trained on. The developments at OpenAI and any changes in its leadership or partnerships don't directly affect my operational capabilities. My primary aim is to continue providing accurate and helpful responses within my design parameters.

Poor ChatGPT, it doesn't know that it cannot function if OpenAI goes bust.

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#462

Post by unyttigfjelltol »

Jensson wrote: post #327
tarruda wrote: post #246

The whole thing starts to look like a coup orchestrated by Microsoft

Yeah, this was a fight between the non-profit and the for-profit branches of OpenAI, and the for-profit won. So now the non-profit OpenAI is essentially dead, the takeover is complete.

The nonprofit side of the venture actually was in worse shape before, because it was completely overwhelmed by for-profit operations. A better way to view this is the nonprofit side rebelled, has a much smaller footprint than the for-profit venture, and we're about to see if during the ascendency of the for-profit activities the nonprofit side retained enough rights to continue to be relevant in the AI conversation.

As for employees end masse acting publicly disloyal to their employer, usually not a good career move.

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#463

Post by baron816 »

I can foresee three possible outcomes here: 1. The board finally relents, Sam goes back and the company keeps going forward, mostly unchanged (but with a new board).

2. All those employees quit, most of whom go to MSFT. But they don’t keep their tech and have to start all their projects from scratch. MSFT is eventually able to buy OpenAI for pennies on the dollar.

3. Same as 2, basically just shuts down or maybe someone like AMZN buys it.

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#464

Post by JeremyNT »

joshstrange wrote: post #308

Well I give up. I think everyone is a "loser" in the current situation. With Ilya signing this I have literally no clue what to believe anymore. I was willing to give the board the benefit of the doubt since I figured non-profit > profit in terms of standing on principal but this timeline is so screwy I'm done. Ilya votes for and stands behind decision to remove Altman, Altman goes to MS, other employees want him bac…

There's no way to read any of this other than that the entire operation is a clown show.

All respect to the engineers and their technical abilities, but this organization has demonstrated such a level of dysfunction that there can't be any path back for it.

Say MS gets what it wants out of this move, what purpose is there in keeping OpenAI around? Wouldn't they be better off just hiring everybody? Is it just some kind of accounting benefit to maintain the weird structure / partnership, versus doing everything themselves? Because it sure looks like OpenAI has succeeded despite its leadership and not because of it, and the "brand" is absolutely and irrevocably tainted by this situation regardless of the outcome.

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#465

Post by marcusverus »

synergy20 wrote: post #347
joshstrange wrote: post #308

Well I give up. I think everyone is a "loser" in the current situation. With Ilya signing this I have literally no clue what to believe anymore. I was willing to give the board the benefit of the doubt since I figured non-profit > profit in terms of standing on principal but this timeline is so screwy I'm done. Ilya votes for and stands behind decision to remove Altman, Altman goes to MS, other employees want him bac…

Ilya ruined everything and shamelessly playing innocent, how low can he go? Based on those posts from OpenAI, Ilya cares nothing about humanity or security of OpenAI, he lost his mind when Sam got all the spotlights and making all the good calls.

Hanlon's razor[0] applies. There is no reason to assume malice, nor shamelessness, nor anything negative about Ilya. As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Consider:

Ilya sees two options; A) OpenAI with Sam's vision, which is increasingly detached from the goals stated in the OpenAI charter, or B) OpenAI without Sam, which would return to the goals of the charter. He chooses option B, and takes action to bring this about.

He gets his way. The Board drops Sam. Contrary to Ilya's expectations, OpenAI employees revolt. He realizes that his ideal end-state (OpenAI as it was, sans Sam) is apparently not a real option. At this point, the real options are A) OpenAI with Sam (i.e. the status quo ante), or B) a gutted OpenAI with greatly diminished leadership, IC talent, and reputation. He chooses option A.

[0]Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#468

Post by siva7 »

optimalsolver wrote: post #193

There are thousands of extremely talented ML researchers and software devs who would jump at the chance to work at Open AI. Everyone is replaceable.

> Everyone is replaceable.

Nope. That holds only true for mediocre employees but not above. The world class in their field isn't replaceable otherwise there would be no openai.

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#469

Post by vidarh »

singularity2001 wrote: post #249
breadwinner wrote: post #51

If they join Sam Altman and Greg Brockman at Microsoft they will not need to start from scratch because Microsoft has full rights [1] to ChatGPT IP. They can just fork ChatGPT. Also keep in mind that Microsoft hasn't actually given OpenAI $13 Billion because much of that is in the form of Azure credits. So this could end up being the cheapest acquisition for Microsoft: They get a $90 Billion company for peanuts. [1]…

Board will be ousted, new board will instruct interim CEO to hire back Sam at al, Nadella will let them go for a small favor, happy ending.

Whom is it that has power to oust the non-profits board? They may well manage to pressure them into leaving, but I don't they have any direct power over it.

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#470

Post by draw_down »

autaut wrote: post #405

Years from now we will look back to today as the watershed moment when ai went from technology capable of empowering humanity, to being another chain forged by big investors to enslave us for the profits of very few ppl. The investors (Microsoft and the Saudi’s) stepped in and gave a clear message: this technology has to be developed and used only in ways that will be profitable for them.

[dead]
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