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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

#901

Post by wsgeorge »

anonyfox wrote: post #868

Seems like in the minority here, but for me this is looking like a win-win-win situation for now. 1. OpenAI just got bumped up to my top address to apply to (if I would have the skills of a scientist, I am only an engineer level), I want AGI to happen and can totally understand that the actual scientists don't really care for money or becoming a big company at all , this is more a burden than anything else for resear…

I'm with you on this. Also, this hopefully brings the "Open"AI puns to an end. And now there's several fun ways to read "Microsoft owns OpenAI". :)

If OpenAI gets back to actually publishing papers to everyone's benefit, that will be a huge win for humanity!

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

#902

Post by tcbawo »

idopmstuff wrote: post #889
anonyfox wrote: post #868

Seems like in the minority here, but for me this is looking like a win-win-win situation for now. 1. OpenAI just got bumped up to my top address to apply to (if I would have the skills of a scientist, I am only an engineer level), I want AGI to happen and can totally understand that the actual scientists don't really care for money or becoming a big company at all , this is more a burden than anything else for resear…

> 3. Sam and his buddies are taken care of because they are in for the money ultimately, whereas the true researchers can stay at OpenAI. This one's not right - Altman famously had no equity in OpenAI. When asked by Congress he said he makes enough to pay for health insurance. It's pretty clear Sam wants to advance the state of AI quickly and is using commercialization as a tool to do that. Otherwise I generally agre…

Someone suggested earlier that he probably had some form of profit sharing pass-through, as has become popular in some circles.

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

#903

Post by iambateman »

shubhamjain wrote: post #99

Have to give it to Satya. There's a thin possibility that Microsoft would have to write-off its whole $10B (or more?) investment in OpenAI, but that isn't Satya's focus. The focus is on what he can do next. Maybe, recruit the most formidable AI team in the world, removed from the shackles of an awkward non-profit owning a for-profit company? Give enough (cash) incentives and most of OpenAI employees would have no qua…

I basically agree - and it’s a weird cognitive shift to think that going to Microsoft is the best place for tech innovation today.

Credit to Nadella for making a big cultural shift over the past several years.

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

#904

Post by sanderjd »

cphoover wrote: post #414
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…

"brilliant" I think "predictable" is more apt.

I've read a decent amount of predictions about this and had not actually seen this one or considered it until I read about it happening.

I think the predictable thing would have been a new company with new investment from Microsoft. But this is better; it a bit like magical thinking that MS would want to just throw more money after a new venture and essentially write off the old one. This solution accomplished similar things, but gives more to Microsoft in the trade by bringing that "new company" fully in house.

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

#905

Post by [deleted] »

loveparade wrote: post #233
impulser_ wrote: post #118

I'm guessing this is the end of OpenAI. People aren't going to want to work at OpenAI anymore due to the value destruction that just occurred. It's going to be hard for them to raise money now because of the bad rep they have now. It going to be hard for them to hire top talent. You have two leaders, top engineers and researchers leaving the company. Google and Facebook come in a grab up any top talent that still the…

I agree, any potential hire who has the choice between OpenAI and the new team at MSFT will now choose the latter. And a lot of the current team will follow as well. This is probably the end of OpenAI. Can't say I'm too sad, finally a chance to erase that misleading name from history.

[deleted]

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

#906

Post by rcbdev »

dartos wrote: post #890
anonyfox wrote: post #868

Seems like in the minority here, but for me this is looking like a win-win-win situation for now. 1. OpenAI just got bumped up to my top address to apply to (if I would have the skills of a scientist, I am only an engineer level), I want AGI to happen and can totally understand that the actual scientists don't really care for money or becoming a big company at all , this is more a burden than anything else for resear…

Little pet peeve of mine. Engineers aren’t a lower level than scientists, it’s just a different career path. Scientists generate lots of ideas in controlled environments and engineers work to make those ideas work in the wild real world. Both are difficult and important in their own right.

Engineers tend to earn a lot more.

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

#907

Post by meiraleal »

alsodumb wrote: post #566
belter wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember when they did this? "Microsoft Buys Skype for $8.5 Billion" - https://www.wired.com/2011/05/microsoft-buys-skype-2/ To then write down their assets? "How Skype lost its crown to Zoom" - https://www.wired.co.uk/article/skype-coronavirus-pandemic Or when they did this ? Or how in 2014... "Microsoft buying Nokia's phone business in a $7.2 billion bid for its mobile future" - https://www.theverge.com/2013/9/2/46…

Remember when they did this? "Microsoft to acquire GitHub for $7.5 billion" - https://news.microsoft.com/2018/06/04/microsoft-to-acquire-g... only to enable GitHub to do greater things, without disrupting user experience? "Four years after being acquired by Microsoft, GitHub keeps doing its thing" - https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/26/four-years-after-being-acq... or when they acquired LinkedIn before that? "Microsoft…

> only to enable GitHub to do greater things, without disrupting user experience?

Excuse you? Greater where? Github was an amazing revolution, unique of its kind. Microsoft didn't kill it but didn't make it even 1% better for the users, just turned it into a cash cow. Linkedin is currently a PoS.

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

#908

Post by sanderjd »

ybob wrote: post #650
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…

Lets assume the whole structure works, 1-2 years later, Sam becomes the apparent CEO candidate after Satya.

I said this elsewhere, but think the timeline is longer than that. Either Sam and Satya will butt heads and Altman will be sidelined, or it will be a good partnership, and he'll be on the shortlist as a successor when Nadella's run naturally comes to a close. But that second path is longer than a couple years.

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

#909

Post by adql »

anonyfox wrote: post #868

Seems like in the minority here, but for me this is looking like a win-win-win situation for now. 1. OpenAI just got bumped up to my top address to apply to (if I would have the skills of a scientist, I am only an engineer level), I want AGI to happen and can totally understand that the actual scientists don't really care for money or becoming a big company at all , this is more a burden than anything else for resear…

I don't think one of biggest tech giants in control of the "best" AI company out there is beneficial to customers...

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

#910

Post by idopmstuff »

tcbawo wrote: post #902
idopmstuff wrote: post #889

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 3. Sam and his buddies are taken care of because they are in for the money ultimately, whereas the true researchers can stay at OpenAI. This one's not right - Altman famously had no equity in OpenAI. When asked by Congress he said he makes enough to pay for health insurance. It's pretty clear Sam wants to advance the state of AI quickly and is using commercialization as a tool to do that. Otherwise I generally agre…

Someone suggested earlier that he probably had some form of profit sharing pass-through, as has become popular in some circles.

I think it makes more sense to take him at the spirit of what he said under oath to Congress (think of how bad it would look for him/OpenAI if he said he had no equity and only made enough for health insurance but actually was getting profit sharing) over some guy suggesting something on the internet with no evidence.
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