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Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and others to join Microsoft

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Re: Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and others to join Microsoft

#721

Post by JCharante »

padolsey wrote: post #282
impulser_ wrote: post #118

I'm guessing this is the end of OpenAI. People aren't going to want to work at OpenAI anymore due to the value destruction that just occurred. It's going to be hard for them to raise money now because of the bad rep they have now. It going to be hard for them to hire top talent. You have two leaders, top engineers and researchers leaving the company. Google and Facebook come in a grab up any top talent that still the…

There are engineers who care about the kinds of values that OpenAI was founded on, which have just been – arguably – reaffirmed and revalidated by this latest drama. OpenAI's commercialization was only ever a means to have sufficient compute to chase AGI… If you watch interviews of Ilya you'll see how reluctant he is on principle to yield to the need for profit incentives, but he understands it is a necessary evil to…

and those values will make them go bankrupt before creating AGI

Re: Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and others to join Microsoft

#722

Post by dgb23 »

9dev wrote: post #288

I don’t quite buy your Cyberpunk utopia where the Megacorp finally rids us of those pesky ethics qualms (or ”shackles“, as you phrased it.) Microsoft can now proceed without the guidance of a council that actually has humanities interests in mind, not only those of Microsoft shareholders. I don’t know whether all that caution will turn out to have been necessary, but I guess we’re just gleefully heading into whatever…

Indeed it seems like all of this recent drama and moving around is exactly for this purpose.

Starting as a Non-Profit, naming it "Open" (the implication of the term Open in software is radically different from how they operate) etc. Now seems entirely driven by marketing and fiscal concerns. Feels like a bait and switch almost.

Meanwhile there's a whole strategy around regulatory capture going on, clouded in humanitarian and security concerns which are almost entirely speculative. Again, if we put our cynical hat on or simply follow the money, it seems like the whole narrative around AI safety (etc.) that is perpetuated by these people is FUD (towards law makers) and to inflate what AI actually can to (towards investors).

It's very hard for me right now not to see these actions as part of a machiavellistic strategy that is entirely focused around power, while it adorns itself with ethical concerns.

Re: Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and others to join Microsoft

#723

Post by cal85 »

dagmx wrote: post #137
mirzap wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Satya will probably allow them to run a startup under the MS umbrella without interference and with full MS backing.

I really don’t think that’s in the Microsoft DNA to do

Sure but this situation overrrides that. Sam has a lot of bargaining power.

Re: Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and others to join Microsoft

#724

Post by precompute »

ybob wrote: post #650
nostromo wrote: post #82

This is sorta brilliant. Microsoft has access to almost everything OpenAI does. And now Altman and Brockman will have that access too. Meanwhile, I imagine their tenure at MSFT will be short-lived, because hot-shot startup folks don’t really want to work there. They can stabilize, use OpenAI’s data and models for free, use Microsoft’s GPUs at cost, and start a new company shortly, of which Microsoft will own some lar…

Lets assume the whole structure works, 1-2 years later, Sam becomes the apparent CEO candidate after Satya.

That would be very bad.

Re: Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and others to join Microsoft

#725

Post by quonn »

cal85 wrote: post #715
quonn wrote: post #709

It seems to me like there is one clear winner, Google, and everyone else lost a bit. Nevertheless Microsoft seems to have contained the damage as well as possible, again producing an outcome that is better for everyone from the position where they started after Friday.

How does Google benefit?

OpenAI was growing like crazy and while I typically only use it the generate new content, many people I observe just ask it anything. Instead of going to Google they just go to ChatGPT.

The current situation created a mess at OpenAI which should slow it down and permanently damage it‘s reputation somewhat. If I were Google and could choose either outcome, that‘s the outcome I would have chosen.

Re: Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and others to join Microsoft

#726

Post by thworp »

jampekka wrote: post #407
imgabe wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might notice that Microsoft shareholders are also part of humanity and destroying humanity would be highly detrimental to Microsoft's profits, so maybe their interests are not as misaligned as you think. I am always bemused by how people assume any corporate interest is automatically a cartoon supervillain who wants to destroy the entire world just because.

Shareholders tend to be institutions whose charter is to maximize profit from the shares. An economic system that doesn't factor in human welfare is worth a thousand villains.

As opposed to what? (National) Socialism was for the benefit of the working people on paper, but in practice that meant imprisoning, murdering and impoverishing anybody thought to be working against the people's welfare. Since this included most productive members of society it made everyone poorer anyway.

Human welfare is the domain of politics, not the economic system. The forces that are supposed to inject human welfare into economic decisions are the state through regulation, employees through negotiation and unions and civil society through the press.

Re: Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and others to join Microsoft

#727

Post by hackerbeat »

lannisterstark wrote: post #2

Listen. I was confused when the whole thing was going down. I was more confused when the whole "board wants to backtrack and maybe resign" thing was going down. I got even more confused when Emmett Shear was announced as the CEO. ...but never in a hundred years would I have imagined "haha just join Microsoft" as an actual alternative. I remain, confused.

Lol. I can relate.

Re: Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and others to join Microsoft

#728

Post by zb3 »

padolsey wrote: post #282
impulser_ wrote: post #118

I'm guessing this is the end of OpenAI. People aren't going to want to work at OpenAI anymore due to the value destruction that just occurred. It's going to be hard for them to raise money now because of the bad rep they have now. It going to be hard for them to hire top talent. You have two leaders, top engineers and researchers leaving the company. Google and Facebook come in a grab up any top talent that still the…

There are engineers who care about the kinds of values that OpenAI was founded on, which have just been – arguably – reaffirmed and revalidated by this latest drama. OpenAI's commercialization was only ever a means to have sufficient compute to chase AGI… If you watch interviews of Ilya you'll see how reluctant he is on principle to yield to the need for profit incentives, but he understands it is a necessary evil to…

By "for profit" you mean "available to use by people right now"? Well then I hope the "pure" OpenAI is over. I want to be able to use the AI for money, not for these models to be hoarded..

Re: Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and others to join Microsoft

#730

Post by HlessClaudesman »

shubhamjain wrote: post #99

Have to give it to Satya. There's a thin possibility that Microsoft would have to write-off its whole $10B (or more?) investment in OpenAI, but that isn't Satya's focus. The focus is on what he can do next. Maybe, recruit the most formidable AI team in the world, removed from the shackles of an awkward non-profit owning a for-profit company? Give enough (cash) incentives and most of OpenAI employees would have no qua…

I dunno man. Doing innovation from inside Microsoft might be more difficult than if they had just formed a new startup. Microsoft as a brand has the stench of mediocracy upon it. Large companies are where ideas and teams go to die, or just rest and vest.
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