This will be remembered as the biggest waste of time and energy since the LK-99 fiasco.
We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO
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Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO
#812If OpenAI remains a 501(c)(3) charity, then any employee of Microsoft on the board will have a fiduciary duty to advance the mission of the charity, rather than the business needs of Microsoft. There are obvious conflicts of interest here. I don't expect the IRS to be a fan of this arrangement.
My guess is that the non-profit has never gotten this kind of scrutiny now and the new directors are going to want to get lawyers involved to cover their asses. Just imagine their positions when Sam Altman really does something worth firing. I think it was a real mistake to create OpenAI as a public charity and I would be hesitant to step into that mess. Imagine the fun when it tips into a private foundation status.
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Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO
#813OpenAI's Future and Viability - OpenAI has damaged their brand and lost trust, but may still become a hugely successful company if they build great products - OpenAI looks stronger now with a more professional board, but has fundamentally transformed into a for-profit focused on commercializing LLMs - OpenAI still retains impressive talent and technology assets and could pivot into a leading AI provider if managed we…
>- Microsoft strengthened its power despite not appearing involved in the drama Depending on what you mean by "the drama", Microsoft was very clearly involved. They don't appear to have been in the loop prior to Altman's firing, but they literally offered jobs to everyone who left in solidarity with same. Do we really think things like that were not intended to change people's minds?
>but they literally offered jobs to everyone who left in solidarity with same
Offering people jobs is neither illegal nor immoral, no? And wasn't HN also firmly on the side of abolishing non-competes and non-soliciting from employment contracts to facilitate freedom of employment movement and increase industry wages in the process?
Well then, there's your freedom of employment in action. Why be unhappy about it? I don't get it.
Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO
#814Disappointing outcome. The process has conclusively confirmed that OpenAI is in fact not open and that it is effectively controlled by Microsoft. Furthermore, the overwhelming groupthink shows there's clearly little critical thinking amongst OpenAI's employees either. It might not seem like the case right now, but I think the real disruption is just about to begin. OpenAI does not have in its DNA to win, they're too…
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Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO
#815Emmett Shear on Twitter: I am deeply pleased by this result, after ~72 very intense hours of work. Coming into OpenAI, I wasn’t sure what the right path would be. This was the pathway that maximized safety alongside doing right by all stakeholders involved. I’m glad to have been a part of the solution. https://twitter.com/eshear/status/1727210329560756598
He’s trying very very hard to claim some credit in this. Probably had none.
Are you basing that on any information?
Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO
#816What a waste of time
Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO
#817What a gigantic mess. Everyone looks bad in this: Altman, Microsoft, the OpenAI board, OpenAI employees, etc.
It also has confirmed that greed and cult of personality win in the end.
Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO
#818OpenAI's Future and Viability - OpenAI has damaged their brand and lost trust, but may still become a hugely successful company if they build great products - OpenAI looks stronger now with a more professional board, but has fundamentally transformed into a for-profit focused on commercializing LLMs - OpenAI still retains impressive talent and technology assets and could pivot into a leading AI provider if managed we…
Was this really motivated by AI safety or was it just Helen Toner’s personal vendetta against Sam? It doesn’t feel like anything was accomplished besides wasting 700+ people’s time, and the only thing that has changed now is Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley are off the board.
As someone who was very critical of how the board acted, I strongly disagree. I felt like this Washington Post article gave a very good, balanced overview. I think it sounds like there were substantive issues that were brewing for a long time, though no doubt personal clashes had a huge impact on how it all went down:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/22/sam-alt...
Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO
#819OpenAI's Future and Viability - OpenAI has damaged their brand and lost trust, but may still become a hugely successful company if they build great products - OpenAI looks stronger now with a more professional board, but has fundamentally transformed into a for-profit focused on commercializing LLMs - OpenAI still retains impressive talent and technology assets and could pivot into a leading AI provider if managed we…
>- Microsoft strengthened its power despite not appearing involved in the drama Depending on what you mean by "the drama", Microsoft was very clearly involved. They don't appear to have been in the loop prior to Altman's firing, but they literally offered jobs to everyone who left in solidarity with same. Do we really think things like that were not intended to change people's minds?
The GP looks to me like an AI summary. Which would fit with the hallucination that microsoft wasn't involved.
Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO
#820OpenAI's Future and Viability - OpenAI has damaged their brand and lost trust, but may still become a hugely successful company if they build great products - OpenAI looks stronger now with a more professional board, but has fundamentally transformed into a for-profit focused on commercializing LLMs - OpenAI still retains impressive talent and technology assets and could pivot into a leading AI provider if managed we…
No structure or organization is stronger when their leader emerged as "irreplaceable".
And correlation does not imply causality.
Example: Put a loser as CEO of a rocket ship, and there is a huge chance that the company will still be successful.
Put a loser as CEO of a sinking ship, and there is a huge chance that the company will fail.
The exceptional CEOs are those who turn failures into successes.
The fact this drama has emerged is the symptom of a failure.
In a company with a great CEO this shouldn’t be happening.