941–950 of 1001 posts
Ilya posted this on Twitter: "I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we've built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company." https://twitter.com/ilyasut/status/1726590052392956028
It takes a lot of courage to do so after all this.
I don't really understanding why the workforce is swinging unambiguously behind Altman. The core of the narrative thus far is that the board fired Altman on the grounds that he was prioritising commercialisation over the not-for-profit mission of OpenAI written into the organisation's charter.[1] Given that Sam has since joined Microsoft, that seems plausible, on its face. The board may have been incompetent and shor…
> I don't really understanding why the workforce is swinging unambiguously behind Altman. Maybe it has to do with them wanting to get rich by selling their shares - my understanding is there was an ongoing process to get that happening [1]. If Altman is out of the picture, it looks like Microsoft will assimilate a lot of OpenAI into a separate organisation and OpenAI's shares might become worthless. [1] https://www.f…
Question for California IP/employment law experts - 1) would you have expected the IP-sharing agreement between MS and OpenAI to contain some provisions for employee poaching, within the constraints allowed by California (?) law? 2) California law has good provisions for workers' rights to leave one company and go to another, but what does it all for company A to do when entering an IP-sharing relationship with compa…
INAL, but I’ve executed contracts with these provisions. In my understanding, if such a clause exists, Microsoft employees should not solicit OpenAI employees. But, there’s nothing to stop an OpenAI employee from reaching out to Sam and saying “Hey, do you have room for me at Microsoft?” and then answering yes. Or, Microsoft could open up a couple hundred job reqs based on the team structure Sam used at OpenAI and hi…
There’s one angle of the whole thing that I haven’t yet seen discussed on HN. I wonder if Sam’s sister’s accusations towards him some time ago could have played any role in this. But then, I would expect MS to have done their due diligence. So, basically, I guess I’m just interested to know what were the reasons why the board decided to oust their CEO out of the blue on a Friday evening.
I was surprised to find that that wasn't apparently the case. (Although the reason for Sam Altman's dismissal is still obscure.) It's kind of shocking. Whether or not the allegations are true, they haven't made Altman radioactive, and that's insane.
The fact that we're not talking about it on HN is also pretty wild. The few times it has been mentioned folks have been quick to dismiss the idea that he might have been fired for having done some really creepy things, which is itself pretty creepy.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If it weren’t so unbelievable, I’d almost accuse them of orchestrating all this to sell to Microsoft without the regulatory scrutiny. It’s like they distressed the company to make an acquisition one of mercy instead of aggression, knowing they already had their buyer lined up.
> sell to Microsoft without the regulatory scrutiny I keep hearing this, principally from Silicon Valley. It’s based on nothing. Of course this will receive both Congressional and regulatory scrutiny. (Microsoft is also likely to be sued by OpenAI’s corporate entity, on behalf of its outside investors, as are Altman and anyone who jumps ship.)
There can exist an inherent delusion within elements of a company, that if left unchallenged, can persist. An agreement for instance, can seem airtight because it's never challenged, but falls apart in court. The OpenAI fallacy was that non-profit principals were guiding the success of the firm, and when the board decided to test that theory, it broke the whole delusion. Had it not fully challenged Altman, the board…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They could make ChatGPT++ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_J%2B%2B
“Microsoft Chat 365” Although it would be beautiful if they name it Clippy and finally make Clippy into the all-powerful AGI it was destined to be.
It takes a cult-like team, execs flipping, and a nightmare scenario and tremendous leverage opportunity; otherwise worker organizing is treated like nasty commie activity. I wonder if this will teach more people a lesson on the power of organizing.