Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

wired.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

811–820 of 1001 posts

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#811

Post by dkjaudyeqooe »

JeremyNT wrote: post #464
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 kin…

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

In that reading Altman is head clown. Everyone is blaming the board, but you're no genius if you can't manage your board effectively. As CEO you have to bring everyone along with your vision; customers, employees and the board.

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#812

Post by tim333 »

JeremyNT wrote: post #464
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 kin…

I'm not sure about the entire operation so much as the three non AI board members. Ilya tweeted:

>I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we've built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company.

and everyone else seems fine with Sam and Greg. It seems to be mostly the other directors causing the clown show - "Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology's Helen Toner"

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#813

Post by _the_inflator »

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]…

Exactly. This is what business is about in the ranks of heavyweights like Sadya. On the other hand, prevent others from taking advantage of OpenAI.

MS can only win because there are only viable options: OpenAI survives under MS's control, OpenAI implodes, and MS gets the assets relatively cheaply.

Everything else won't benefit competitors.

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#814

Post by alephnerd »

mizzao wrote: post #765
taylorlapeyre wrote: post #742

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Helen Toner funded OpenAI with $30M, which was enough to get a board seat at the time.

Source? Where did that money come from?

From Open Philanthropy - a Dustin Moskovitz funded non-profit working on building OpenAI type initiatives. They also gave OpenAI the initial $30M. She was their observer.

https://www.openphilanthropy.org/grants/openai-general-suppo...

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#815

Post by cactusplant7374 »

breadwinner wrote: post #388
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Microsoft hasn't actually given OpenAI $13 Billion because much of that is in the form of Azure credits To be clear, these don't go away. They remain an asset of OpenAI's, and could help them continue their research for a few years.

Assuming OpenAI still exists next week, right? If nearly all employees — including Ilya apparently — quit to join Microsoft then they may not be using much of the Azure credits.

Why would Microsoft take Ilya? He is rumored to have started the coup. I can see Microsoft taking all uninvolved employees.

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#816

Post by himaraya »

svnt wrote: post #794
himaraya wrote: post #549

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is wrong. Microsoft has no such rights and its license comes with restrictions, per the cited primary source, meaning a fork would require a very careful approach. https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-and-openai-forge-awkw...

But it does suggest a possibility of the appearance of a sudden motive: Open AI implements and releases ChatGPTs (Poe competitor) but fails to tell D’Angelo ahead of time. Microsoft will have access to code (with restrictions, sure) for essentially a duplicate of D’Angelo’s Poe project. Poe’s ability to fundraise craters. D’Angelo works the less seasoned members of the board to try to scuttle OpenAI and Microsoft’s e…

I think there's more to the Poe story. Sam forced out Reid Hoffman over Inflection AI, [1] so he clearly gave Adam a pass for whatever reason. Maybe Sam credited Adam for inspiring OpenAI's agents?

[1] https://www.semafor.com/article/11/19/2023/reid-hoffman-was-...

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#817

Post by golergka »

browningstreet wrote: post #697
m_ke wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Watch Satya also save the research arm by making Karpathy or Ilya the head of Microsoft Research

0% chance of Ilya failing upwards from this. He dunked himself hard and has blasted a huge hole in his organizational-game-theory quotient.

He's shown himself to be bad at politics, but he's still one of the world best researchers. Surely, a sensible company would find a position for him where he would be able to bring enormous value without having to play politics.

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#819

Post by cactusplant7374 »

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 is probably in talks with Altman.

Re: OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns

#820

Post by kvetching »

browningstreet wrote: post #697
m_ke wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Watch Satya also save the research arm by making Karpathy or Ilya the head of Microsoft Research

0% chance of Ilya failing upwards from this. He dunked himself hard and has blasted a huge hole in his organizational-game-theory quotient.

countless people are looking to weaponize his autism
Post reply on HN