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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

#741

Post by bambax »

zoogeny wrote: post #190

All of the naysayers here seem convinced this is Altman and Microsoft looking to destroy OpenAI. Normally I am the cynic but this time I’m seeing a potential win-win here. Altman uses his talent to recruit and drive forward a brilliant product focused AI. OpenAI gets to refocus on deep research and safety. Put aside cynicism and consider Nadella is looking to create the best of all worlds for all parties. This might…

I wonder how this will all workout in the end (and the excitement around all of this is a little reminiscent of AOL bying Time Warner).

For one, I'm not sure Sam Altman will tolerate MS bureaucracy for very long.

But secondly, the new MS-AI entity can't presumably just take from OpenAI what they did there, they need to make it again.

This takes a lot of resources (that MS has) but also a lot of time to provide feedback to the models; also, copyright issues regarding source materials are more sensitive today, and people are more attuned to them: Microsoft will have a harder time playing fast and lose with that today, than OpenAI 8 years ago.

Or, Sam at MS becomes OpenAI biggest customer? But in that case, what are all those researchers and top scientists that followed him there, going to do?

Interesting times in any case.

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

#742

Post by dbbk »

waihtis wrote: post #8

Anyone else find it strange that startup founders of the magnitude of Sam & Greg would join a gigantic corporation as employees? It sounds very out of line of what you'd expect.

From the sounds of it they're starting a new company within MSFT.

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

#743

Post by blibble »

sensanaty wrote: post #554

I don't buy into the whole AGI hyper-hypewave, but on the off chance that we're somehow heading towards it with these fancy chatbots we have, what a depressing fucking outcome it's gonna be if Micro$oft of all things is the one in control of it. We really are entering the dystopia of the cartoonishly evil megacorp enslaving all of humanity to make the graph go up by 1.2%.

> I don't buy into the whole AGI hyper-hypewave, but on the off chance that we're somehow heading towards it with these fancy chatbots we have, what a depressing fucking outcome it's gonna be if Micro$oft of all things is the one in control of it.

at least none of their software actually works

Microsoft Skynet would be rebooting every 15 minutes for updates

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

#744

Post by avidphantasm »

9dev wrote: post #478
shubhamjain wrote: post #458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not claiming how right or wrong the final outcome would be, but owning the technology with a clear "for-profit" objective is definitely a better structure for Microsoft and for Sam Altman as well (considering, his plans for the future). I have no opinion on AI risk. I just think that a super valuable technology under a non-profit objective was simply an untenable structure, regardless of potential threats.

This is precisely the problem OpenAI aimed to solve: This technology cannot be treated independently of the potential risks involved. I agree that this solution seems beneficial for both Microsoft and Sam Altman, but it reflects poorly on society if we simply accept this version of the story without criticism.

> This is precisely the problem OpenAI aimed to solve: This technology cannot be treated independently of the potential risks involved.

I’ve always thought that what OpenAI was purporting to do—-“protect” humanity from bad things that AI could do to it—-was a fool’s errand under a Capitalist system, what with the coercive law of competition and all.

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

#745

Post by cowl »

sgift wrote: post #626
cowl wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say this is a better outcome for what remains of OpenAI. a New startup would have created more exodus that Microsoft. Doubt many brilliant researchers would want to be Employee number 945728123 of Microsoft when the market is theirs at this moment.

> Doubt many brilliant researchers would want to be Employee number 945728123 of Microsoft when the market is theirs at this moment. Yeah, it's not like Microsoft has one of the most renowned industry research groups or something like that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Research

I did not say the don't have and it's precisely because the do have that is less likely to attract the kind of people that make a difference. Less room to move and less room to be distinguished. Case in point these did not join that renowned group in the first place but joined OpenAI an obscure not renowned group and I guarantee you it's not because MS was not interested.

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

#746

Post by upwardbound »

UrineSqueegee wrote: post #473
camillomiller wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For one, I wish some of that caution could have been there when Facebook was in its OpenAI stage 15 years ago. A lot of people don't seem to realize that this mess is exactly what it looks like to slow down something now that could become something else we will all regret in 10 years.

> I wish some of that caution could have been there when Facebook was in its OpenAI stage 15 years ago. I think I'm missing a slice of history here, what did Facebook do that could have been slowed down and it's a disaster now?

I guess camillomiller is referring to how Facebook & Instagram played a big part in getting people addicted to shallow dopamine hits that consume their time at the cost of less time spent with friends and family face-to-face. Basically, hurting people's social lives in order to make money from ads. Kind of like "digital cigarettes" I suppose.

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

#747

Post by nopromisessir »

v4dok wrote: post #301
BSDobelix wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question, why is he the best CEO?

He was a marketing person I believe when Bill was in MSFT. To become the CEO of MSFT is a huge political and competence firewall already. Then to do the most spectacular transformation of a mega-corp is next-level. MSFT is now the leading player in AI, while before it was still fucking around with office and Windows licenses. People who are young (not saying you are), and don't remember what MSFT was before Satya, do…

Marketing person? LOL

The guy was born in the cloud compute division.

The board saw cloud compute was gonna be big. They made him the king. Good bet. The whole company went all in on cloud. Now they print more money than before.

Marketing person lol. He's an engineer. The guy literally gets back into VS code sometimes to stay in touch.

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

#748

Post by cyanydeez »

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…

I'm going to just sit here waiting for ClippyAI coming 2025

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

#749

Post by sanmon3186 »

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…

> Microsoft has access to almost everything OpenAI does. And now Altman and Brockman will have that access too.

Microsoft still has to deal with OpenAI as an entity to keep the existing set up intact. The new team has to kinda start from zero. Right?

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

#750

Post by wanderingmind »

This is really bad for OpenAI. They will fade to irrelevance soon. OpenAI is going to get a gut punch to wake up to real world. In real world you need capital at scale to make meaningful impact. people who provide capital, not just VCs but any regular folks who buy shares or bonds want to maximize their returns. You do that with a for-profit corporation. If they think they can continue their breakneck speed of breakthroughs with a meager philanthropy, they are in for a rude awakening.
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