We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO • Hacker News Board

Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

#911

Post by baby » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 6:02 PM UTC

jejeyyy77 wrote: post #910

taway1874 wrote: post #897

Some perspective ... One developer (Ilya) vs. One businessman (Sam) -> Sam wins Hundreds of developers threaten to quit vs. Board of Directors (biz) refuse to budge -> Developers win From the outside it looks like developers held the power all along ... which is how it should be.

$$$ vs. Safety -> $$$ wins. Employees who have $$$ incentive threaten to quit if that is taken away. News at 8.

Why are you assuming employees are incentivized by $$$ here, and why do you think the board's reason is related to safety or that employees don't care about safety? It just looks like you're spreading FUD at this point.

Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

#912

Post by baby » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 6:03 PM UTC

laserlight wrote: post #236

With Sam coming back as CEO, hasn't OpenAI board proven that it has lost its function? Regardless of who is in the board, they won't be able to exercise one of the most fundamental of their rights, firing the CEO, because Sam has proven that he is unfireable. Now, Sam can do however he pleases, whether it is lying, not reporting, etc. To be clear, I don't claim that Sam did, or will, lie, or misbehave.

How did you get there? The board did fire him, they exercised their right.

Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

#913

Post by freedomben » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 6:03 PM UTC

voiceblue wrote: post #826

For some reason this reminds me of the Coke/New Coke fiasco, which ended up popularizing Coke Classic more than ever before. > Consumers were outraged and demanded their beloved Coke back – the taste that they knew and had grown up with. The request to bring the old product back was so loud that soon journalists suggested that the entire project was a stunt. To this accusation Coca-Cola President Don Keough replied o…

That is one of the greatest lines of all time. Classic

Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

#914

Post by dr_dshiv » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 6:06 PM UTC

philipwhiuk wrote: post #902

taway1874 wrote: post #897

Some perspective ... One developer (Ilya) vs. One businessman (Sam) -> Sam wins Hundreds of developers threaten to quit vs. Board of Directors (biz) refuse to budge -> Developers win From the outside it looks like developers held the power all along ... which is how it should be.

Are you sure Ilya was the root of this. He backed it and then signed the pledge to quit if it wasn't undone. What's the evidence he was behind it and not D'Angelo?

If we only look at the outcomes (dismantling of board), Microsoft and Sam seem to have the most motive.

Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

#915

Post by Marrand » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 6:13 PM UTC

gandutraveler wrote: post #685

flylib wrote: post #111

"A source with direct knowledge of the negotiations says that the sole job of this initial board is to vet and appoint a new formal board of up to 9 people that will reset the governance of OpenAl. Microsoft will likely have a seat on that expanded board, as will Altman himself." https://twitter.com/teddyschleifer/status/172721237871736880...

They need a common man representing the board. After all AI will take those jobs. I can be that common man

A blow for the common man!

Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

#916

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 6:13 PM UTC

mwattsun wrote: post #845

garrison wrote: post #637

If 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.

Microsoft doesn't have to send an employee to represent them on the board. They could ask Bill Gates.

[deleted]

Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

#917

Post by rsanek » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 6:14 PM UTC

melvinmelih wrote: post #860

“You could parachute Sam into an island full of cannibals and come back in 5 years and he'd be the king.” - Paul Graham

http://paulgraham.com/fundraising.html

Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

#918

Post by __loam » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 6:16 PM UTC

philipwhiuk wrote: post #902

taway1874 wrote: post #897

Some perspective ... One developer (Ilya) vs. One businessman (Sam) -> Sam wins Hundreds of developers threaten to quit vs. Board of Directors (biz) refuse to budge -> Developers win From the outside it looks like developers held the power all along ... which is how it should be.

Are you sure Ilya was the root of this. He backed it and then signed the pledge to quit if it wasn't undone. What's the evidence he was behind it and not D'Angelo?

I'm not sure I buy the idea that Ilya was just some hapless researcher who got unwillingly pulled into this. Any one of the board could have voted not to remove Sam and stop the board coup, including Ilya. I'd bet he only got cold feet after the story became international news and after most of the company threatened to resign because their bag was in jeopardy.

Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

#919

Post by qudat » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 6:16 PM UTC

shubhamjain wrote: post #162

At the end of the day, we still don't know what exactly happened and probably, never will. However, it seems clear there was a rift between Rapid Commercialization (Team Sam) and Upholding the Original Principles (Team Helen/Ilya). I think the tensions were brewing for quite a while, as it's evident from an article written even before GPT-3 [1]. > Over time, it has allowed a fierce competitiveness and mounting pressu…

> If you truly believed that Superhuman AI was near, and it could act with malice, won't you try to slow things down a bit?

No, because it is an effort in futility. We are evolving into extinction and there is nothing we can do about it. https://bower.sh/in-love-with-a-ghost

Re: We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO

#920

Post by throwaway-blaze » Wed, Nov 22, 2023, 6:17 PM UTC

bradleybuda wrote: post #875

garrison wrote: post #637

If 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.

Major corporate boards are rife with "on paper" conflicts on interest - that's what happens when you want people with real management experience to sit on your board and act like responsible adults. This happens in every single industry and has nothing to do with tech or with OpenAI specifically. In practice, board bylaws and common sense mean that individuals recuse themselves as needed and don't do stupid shit.

No conflict, no interest.