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OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO

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

#91

Post by appplication »

janejeon wrote: post #71
Jensson wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I hope Sam comes back Why? We would have more diversity in this space if he leaves, which would get us another AI startup with huge funding and know how from OpenAI, while OpenAI would become less Sam Altman like. I think him staying is bad for the field overall compared to OpenAI splitting in two.

Honestly would be super interested to see what a hypothetical "SamAI" corp would look like, and what they would bring to the table. More competition, but also, probably with less ideological disagreements to distract them from building AI/AGI.

I mean this as an honest question, but what does Sam bring to the table that any other young and high performing CEO wouldn’t? Is he himself particularly material to OpenAI?

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

#92

Post by codeptualize »

gkoberger wrote: post #24

I'd bet money Satya was a driver of this reversal. I genuinely can't believe the board didn't see this coming. I think they could have won in the court of public opinion if their press release said they loved Sam but felt like his skills and ambitions diverged from their mission. But instead, they tried to skewer him, and it backfired completely. I hope Sam comes back. He'll make a lot more money if he doesn't, but I…

I agree, the way they did this just shows incompetence and recklessness.

Even if they are making the right call, you can't really trust them after ruining the reputation and trust of the company like this.

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

#93

Post by himaraya »

gkoberger wrote: post #80
Jensson wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I hope Sam comes back Why? We would have more diversity in this space if he leaves, which would get us another AI startup with huge funding and know how from OpenAI, while OpenAI would become less Sam Altman like. I think him staying is bad for the field overall compared to OpenAI splitting in two.

Competition may be good for profit, but it's not good for safety. The balance between the two factions inside OpenAI is a feature, not a bug.

The opposite, competition erodes profits. Hard to predict which alternative improves safety long term.

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

#95

Post by huevosabio »

Jensson wrote: post #52
gkoberger wrote: post #24

I'd bet money Satya was a driver of this reversal. I genuinely can't believe the board didn't see this coming. I think they could have won in the court of public opinion if their press release said they loved Sam but felt like his skills and ambitions diverged from their mission. But instead, they tried to skewer him, and it backfired completely. I hope Sam comes back. He'll make a lot more money if he doesn't, but I…

> I hope Sam comes back Why? We would have more diversity in this space if he leaves, which would get us another AI startup with huge funding and know how from OpenAI, while OpenAI would become less Sam Altman like. I think him staying is bad for the field overall compared to OpenAI splitting in two.

Yea, I feel like this is another traitorous eight moment.

I want a second (first being Anthropic?) OpenAI split. Having Anthropic, OpenAI, SamGregAi, Stability and Mistral and more competing on foundation models will further increase the pressure to open source.

It seems like there is a lull in returns to model size, if that's the case then there's even less basis for having all the resources under a single umbrella.

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

#96

Post by astrange »

IAmNotACellist wrote: post #15
wilg wrote: post #3

He might as well come back if the entire board resigns and he gets to pick the new board and turn it into a C corp.

That would be the worst timeline. This shakeup has me 1% hopeful OpenAI will actually return to being a non-profit in spirit, not just name.

A company owned by a nonprofit isn't that rare - big European companies like IKEA and Novo Nordisk did it. Of course, they did it for tax evasion.

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

#97

Post by eastbound »

mycologos wrote: post #69
gkoberger wrote: post #24

I'd bet money Satya was a driver of this reversal. I genuinely can't believe the board didn't see this coming. I think they could have won in the court of public opinion if their press release said they loved Sam but felt like his skills and ambitions diverged from their mission. But instead, they tried to skewer him, and it backfired completely. I hope Sam comes back. He'll make a lot more money if he doesn't, but I…

> I think they could have won in the court of public opinion ... [but] they tried to skewer him, and it backfired completely Maybe we have different definitions of "the court of public opinion". Most people don't know who Sam Altman is, and most of the people who do know don't have strong opinions on his performance as OpenAI's CEO. Even on HN, the reaction to the board "skwer[ing] him" has been pretty mixed, and mos…

Shouldn’t the board resign in that case?

That would also remediate the appearence of total incompetence of this clown show, in addition to admitting the board and Sam don’t fit with each other, and restore confidence for the next investor that their money is properly managed. At the moment, no-one would invest in a company that can be undermined by its non-profit, with a (probably) disparaging press release a few minutes before market closure on a Friday evening, for which Satya had to personally intervene.

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

#98

Post by px43 »

gkoberger wrote: post #24

I'd bet money Satya was a driver of this reversal. I genuinely can't believe the board didn't see this coming. I think they could have won in the court of public opinion if their press release said they loved Sam but felt like his skills and ambitions diverged from their mission. But instead, they tried to skewer him, and it backfired completely. I hope Sam comes back. He'll make a lot more money if he doesn't, but I…

Satya drove the removal of Sam, or drove the board to get him back?

From Greg's tweet, it seems like the chaos was largely driven Ilya, who has also been very outspoken against open source and sharing research, which makes me think his motivations are more aligned with those of Microsoft/Satya. I still can't tell if Sam got ousted because he was getting in the way of a Microsoft takeover, or if Sam was trying to set the stage for a Microsoft takeover. It's all very confusing.

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

#100

Post by apalmer »

tfehring wrote: post #82
Jensson wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I hope Sam comes back Why? We would have more diversity in this space if he leaves, which would get us another AI startup with huge funding and know how from OpenAI, while OpenAI would become less Sam Altman like. I think him staying is bad for the field overall compared to OpenAI splitting in two.

My main concern is that a new Altman-led AI company would be less safety-focused than OpenAI. I think him returning to OpenAI would be better for AI safety, hard to say whether it would be better for AI progress though.

This is valid thought process BUT Altman is not going to come back without the other faction being neutered. It just would not make any sense.
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