Live data from Hacker News

OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

theverge.com

861–870 of 1001 posts

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#861

If Altman gets to return, it’s the goodbye of AI ethics within OpenAI and the elimination of the nonprofit. Also, I believe that hiring him back because of “how much he is loved by people within OpenAI” is like forgetting that a corrupt president did what they did. In all honesty, that has precedent, so it wouldn’t be old news. Also, I read a lot of people here saying this is about engineers vs scientists…I believe t…

> Steve Jobs who was actually a UX designer.

Steve Jobs was not an UX Designer, he had good taste and used to back good design and talent when he found them.

I don't know what Sam Altman is like outside the what media is saying, but he can be like Steve Jobs very easily.

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#862

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am just baffled for so many reasons. Why is the board reversing course? They said they lost confidence in Altman - that’s true whether lots of people quit or not. So it was bullshit Why did the board not foresee people quitting en masse? I’m sure some of it is loyalty to Sam and Greg but it’s also revolting at how they were suddenly fired Why did the interim CEO not warn Ilya about the above? Sure it’s a promotion…

From what we can see, it looks like the majority of the reporting sources are Altman aligned. Look at how the follow up tweet from this reporter read - the board resigning and the governance structure changing is being called a "truce" when it's a capitulation. We might get a better understanding of what actually happened here at some point in the future, but I would not currently assume anything we are seeing come o…

It seems to me that Altman uses his influence to manipulate public opinion, which he always does.

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#863
post #861

If Altman gets to return, it’s the goodbye of AI ethics within OpenAI and the elimination of the nonprofit. Also, I believe that hiring him back because of “how much he is loved by people within OpenAI” is like forgetting that a corrupt president did what they did. In all honesty, that has precedent, so it wouldn’t be old news. Also, I read a lot of people here saying this is about engineers vs scientists…I believe t…

> Steve Jobs who was actually a UX designer. Steve Jobs was not an UX Designer, he had good taste and used to back good design and talent when he found them. I don't know what Sam Altman is like outside the what media is saying, but he can be like Steve Jobs very easily.

Think this is contradictory: "not a UX Designer, he had good taste"

I think you are equating coding with 'design'. Just because Jobs didn't code up the UX, doesn't mean he wasn't 'designing' when he told the coders what would look better.

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#864

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty incredible incompetence all around if true. From the board for not anticipating a backlash and caving immediately... from Microsoft for investing into an endeavor that is purportedly chartered as non-profit and governed by nobodies who can sink it on a whim. And having 0 hard influence on the direction despite a large ownership stake Why bother with a non-profit model that is surreptitiously for profit? The wh…

look at the backgrounds of those board members... cant find any evidence that any of them have experience with corporate politics. theyre in way over their heads.

that's because it was never supposed to be a Corporate. It was a non-profit dedicated to AI research in the benefit of All. This is also why all this happened, they trying to stay true to the mission and not turn into a corporate.

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#865

Update on the OpenAI drama: Altman and the board had till 5pm to reach a truce where the board would resign and he and Brockman would return. The deadline has passed and mass resignations expected if a deal isn’t reached ASAP https://twitter.com/alexeheath/status/1726055095341875545

Pretty incredible incompetence all around if true. From the board for not anticipating a backlash and caving immediately... from Microsoft for investing into an endeavor that is purportedly chartered as non-profit and governed by nobodies who can sink it on a whim. And having 0 hard influence on the direction despite a large ownership stake Why bother with a non-profit model that is surreptitiously for profit? The wh…

> While OpenAI leads currently, there are so many competitors that are within striking distance without the drama.

It's hard to put into words, that do not seem contradictory: GPT-4 is barely good enough to provide tremendous value. For what I need, no other model is passing that bar, which makes them not slightly worse but entirely unusable. But again, it's not that GPT-4 is great, and I would most certainly go to whatever is better at the current price metrics in a heartbeat.

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#866

If Altman gets to return, it’s the goodbye of AI ethics within OpenAI and the elimination of the nonprofit. Also, I believe that hiring him back because of “how much he is loved by people within OpenAI” is like forgetting that a corrupt president did what they did. In all honesty, that has precedent, so it wouldn’t be old news. Also, I read a lot of people here saying this is about engineers vs scientists…I believe t…

Like it or not, some people compare him to Jobs http://www.paulgraham.com/5founders.html

> On questions of design, I ask "What would Steve do?" but on questions of strategy or ambition I ask "What would Sama do?"

This is from the eyes of an investor. Does OpenAI really need a shareholder focused CEO more than a product focused one?

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#867

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a lot better than that. OpenAI is just very good execution of publicly available ideas / research, with some novelty that is not crucial and can be replicated. Moreover, Altman himself contributed near zero to the AI part itself (even from the POV of the product). So far OpenAI products result more or less spontaneously of what LLMs where capable of. That to say that there are crucial CEOs sometimes, like Jobs w…

Why then has no one come close to replicating GPT-4 after 8 months of it being around?

You'd be more likely to get a straight answer from the chief scientist rather than the chief executive officer. At least in this case.

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#868
post #861

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Steve Jobs who was actually a UX designer. Steve Jobs was not an UX Designer, he had good taste and used to back good design and talent when he found them. I don't know what Sam Altman is like outside the what media is saying, but he can be like Steve Jobs very easily.

Think this is contradictory: "not a UX Designer, he had good taste" I think you are equating coding with 'design'. Just because Jobs didn't code up the UX, doesn't mean he wasn't 'designing' when he told the coders what would look better.

UX Design has lot to do with 'craft', the physical aspect of making (designing) something. Edit: Exploring, multiple concepts, feedbacks, iterations etc.. before it even gets spec'ed and going to an engineer for coding.

Also, having a good taste indicates that the person who has that, is not a creator herself, once something is created then only the person can evaluate whether it is good or bad. Equivalent of movie critics or art curator etc.

Re: OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

#869

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The major investors whose money is on the line and who are funding the venture, Microsoft, Sequoia, and Khosla, were not given advanced warning or any input in to how this would impact their investment. I would definitely say the board screwed up. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2023/11/17/openai-in...

I'm surprised that none of these investors secured a board seat for themselves before handing over tens of billions. The board is closer to a friendship circle than a group of experienced business folks.

> The board is closer to a friendship circle than a group of experienced business folks.

Isn't this true for most of S.V.?

Post reply on HN