4 ms·

Why are people suddenly jacking Altman off so hard? What has this non-technical dude done other than trying to corner the AI market for himself and implementing

Why are people suddenly jacking Altman off so hard? What has this non-technical dude done other than trying to corner the AI market for himself and implementing insane bullshit like worldcoin for him to deserve such weird devotion?

TheCondor 3y ago
Generate a $90B valuation?
tstrimple 3y ago
I think the challenge here is the credentials of most of the rest of the board are even more lackluster.
paulddraper 3y ago
Um...what He's secured the resources and partnerships to grow a $100B company virtually overnight, but he hasn't done anything noteworthy or laudible? HN takes are the best. Humor really is the best medicine.
- jejeyyy77 3y ago
  OpenAI is a non-profit, so that is mainly irrelevant.
- sensanaty 3y ago
  So the dude with a billion connections managed to use them to get cash for the startup that deals with the most insanely overhyped piece of technology to have ever been created. No mention of the people actually responsible for any of this? Y'know, the scientists and engineers that actually had to do something to create the crazy technology he's taking credit for, the noteworthy dude is the generic MBA C-suite type that managed to not screw the pooch when given a team of the brightest minds out there?
  - consumer451 3y ago
    > the most insanely overhyped piece of technology to have ever been created. Copying and pasting code from ChatGPT, I created a functional iOS app today based on my design. I have never before written a mobile app, any Swift code, or much of any code aside from Power Apps, in at least 15 years. I am on that hype train.
    - sensanaty 3y ago
      I didn't comment on whether the tech is good or bad, I just said it's overhyped (and you more or less proved my point). And again, what exactly has Sam himself done to bring about the tech? Without Ilya and the rest of the engineers and researchers you wouldn't have been able to copy/paste the code, why exactly is Sam the one that gets the credit here?
      - consumer451 3y ago
        I was responding only to the part I quoted, which I read as criticism of the tech. I am not necessarily an Altman hype man. As an obvious outsider, my best bet as to why he came back so strong was because apparently many researchers (employees) said they would leave as well. I can't read peoples' minds but I can infer a a bit based on human financial interest. The employees with equity were very close to a liquidity event at a valuation of $86B. That is likely life changing money for many, and this whole Altman getting fired mess put that life changing money on hold. I wonder if his ouster had been done in a more sane/stable way, if things could have kept chugging along without him. As far as the average HN opinion, I donno, I have seen many upvoted comments saying... yeah, he's just the CEO.
  - junofan 3y ago
    I don’t think any customer or user of OpenAI wants to see their supplier managed by that board. Who cares about some guy.
    - sensanaty 3y ago
      And I think you overestimate how much people care about CEO/board politicking. Will OpenAI's APIs still exist? Yes? I guarantee you no one other than other CEOs hoping to ride on Sam's coattails will give a shit then
TerrifiedMouse 3y ago
I always figured it’s because HN is run by Y Combinator, a technology startup accelerator, so inevitably many of the folks here will be more pro entrepreneurship than non-profit.
- sensanaty 3y ago
  I've always viewed it as more of a hacker's hangout with the unfortunate side-effect of being YC-sponsored being that you sometimes have to put up with some dumb corporate news here and there, but it seems to be going in a slightly different direction for a while now (or more likely I was just always wrong on this one :P).
  - robbomacrae 3y ago
    There is an enormous YC bias here. ShowHN posts from new YC startups are upvoted instantly whilst most from outside are ignored - the ones you see are the exception. The HN rules state you are not meant to play the game of asking people to boost your post but it seems like time and time again they co-ordinate, or allow it, for the insiders.
    - dbmikus 3y ago
      I think Show HN posts from YC startups are actually boosted by the system. Same with the hiring posts for YC startups. So it's not people, but explicitly coded in. But I don't know if this is truly the case.
      - robbomacrae 3y ago
        Well that hardly seems ethical...
danielmarkbruce 3y ago
Why do you say "non-technical" ? That's clearly wrong. Just because someone is no longer hands on keys, doesn't make them non-technical. Are larry and sergey non-technical? The collison brothers? None of them are hands on keys anymore. The answer to the question is - even people who don't like him realize he's a smart guy and this was a dumb move, and it was done in an amateurish way by a board out of their depth.
- himaraya 3y ago
  No longer? Sam has never substantially dealt with the underlying code for OpenAI, compared to say Demis Hassabis. He resembles Brian Chesky & Joe Gebbia more than Nathan Blecharczyk.
  - danielmarkbruce 3y ago
    Changing companies doesn't mean they go from a "former engineer" to a "never was engineer".
jackblemming 3y ago
He’s an anointed tech bro, to fire him and replace him with someone else who will probably do as a fine job is like saying the emperor has no clothes. Notice how in shock everyone was that a CEO was fired the same way us regular peasants are fired everyday.
- sensanaty 3y ago
  That's the part that gets me, the same people who would react to news of "13,000 employeess laid off" as a brilliant strategic move are the same ones acting as if Sammy boy getting sacked here is the biggest affront ever committed is shocking to me.
  - Nathanba 3y ago
    it's probably the main reason why CEOs get paid so much: They aren't just workers anymore, they are public figures with fans and followers that support them beyond their objective work value
mym1990 3y ago
The fact that you think Altman came around yesterday just shows that you live under a rock. The fact that you think “non-technical” people don’t contribute meaningful value is also worrisome.
- sensanaty 3y ago
  If the rock doesn't have people like Altman and his cult followers, then I'd say it's a cozy spot for me to be in. > The fact that you think “non-technical” people don’t contribute meaningful value to anything means you are stupid Happy to call myself an imbecile in this case!
didip 3y ago
It’s not hard to imagine why relevant people want him to stay. They all want to get the big payday, including Microsoft. People are in the startup game for the big payday. And Sam Altman is the best person given where OpenAI is at right now.
yedava 3y ago
Historically, whenever there was an inflection point for a new technology, you'd have lots of people working on the same problem, and whoever cracks the problem first is put of pedestal. Revisionist history is built around that one person asserting that if it weren't for them, that said technology would never have materialized. We're just seeing a variation of that playing out live. There are multiple teams working on AI, ChatGPT got "there" first and now we have a single heroic figure to worship. Personality cults seem to be a part of the quintessential human condition.
voidfunc 3y ago
This website gets so fucking salty about business people.
ssnistfajen 3y ago
People love worshipping idols and saints, even when the demographic is largely irreligious. Plus, the tech scene is extremely prone to hopping on trends and then taking it way too far. If you want some real cringe, check out @varun_mathur's long Twitter post from Nov 18th. Although at its core, firing Altman under current circumstances was still a poorly thought-out decision which evidently caused the event itself to become a major centre of attention.

TheCondor 3y ago

Generate a $90B valuation?

tstrimple 3y ago

I think the challenge here is the credentials of most of the rest of the board are even more lackluster.

paulddraper 3y ago

Um...what He's secured the resources and partnerships to grow a $100B company virtually overnight, but he hasn't done anything noteworthy or laudible? HN takes are the best. Humor really is the best medicine.

jejeyyy77 3y ago
OpenAI is a non-profit, so that is mainly irrelevant.
sensanaty 3y ago
So the dude with a billion connections managed to use them to get cash for the startup that deals with the most insanely overhyped piece of technology to have ever been created. No mention of the people actually responsible for any of this? Y'know, the scientists and engineers that actually had to do something to create the crazy technology he's taking credit for, the noteworthy dude is the generic MBA C-suite type that managed to not screw the pooch when given a team of the brightest minds out there?
- consumer451 3y ago
  > the most insanely overhyped piece of technology to have ever been created. Copying and pasting code from ChatGPT, I created a functional iOS app today based on my design. I have never before written a mobile app, any Swift code, or much of any code aside from Power Apps, in at least 15 years. I am on that hype train.
  - sensanaty 3y ago
    I didn't comment on whether the tech is good or bad, I just said it's overhyped (and you more or less proved my point). And again, what exactly has Sam himself done to bring about the tech? Without Ilya and the rest of the engineers and researchers you wouldn't have been able to copy/paste the code, why exactly is Sam the one that gets the credit here?
    - consumer451 3y ago
      I was responding only to the part I quoted, which I read as criticism of the tech. I am not necessarily an Altman hype man. As an obvious outsider, my best bet as to why he came back so strong was because apparently many researchers (employees) said they would leave as well. I can't read peoples' minds but I can infer a a bit based on human financial interest. The employees with equity were very close to a liquidity event at a valuation of $86B. That is likely life changing money for many, and this whole Altman getting fired mess put that life changing money on hold. I wonder if his ouster had been done in a more sane/stable way, if things could have kept chugging along without him. As far as the average HN opinion, I donno, I have seen many upvoted comments saying... yeah, he's just the CEO.
- junofan 3y ago
  I don’t think any customer or user of OpenAI wants to see their supplier managed by that board. Who cares about some guy.
  - sensanaty 3y ago
    And I think you overestimate how much people care about CEO/board politicking. Will OpenAI's APIs still exist? Yes? I guarantee you no one other than other CEOs hoping to ride on Sam's coattails will give a shit then

TerrifiedMouse 3y ago

I always figured it’s because HN is run by Y Combinator, a technology startup accelerator, so inevitably many of the folks here will be more pro entrepreneurship than non-profit.

sensanaty 3y ago
I've always viewed it as more of a hacker's hangout with the unfortunate side-effect of being YC-sponsored being that you sometimes have to put up with some dumb corporate news here and there, but it seems to be going in a slightly different direction for a while now (or more likely I was just always wrong on this one :P).
- robbomacrae 3y ago
  There is an enormous YC bias here. ShowHN posts from new YC startups are upvoted instantly whilst most from outside are ignored - the ones you see are the exception. The HN rules state you are not meant to play the game of asking people to boost your post but it seems like time and time again they co-ordinate, or allow it, for the insiders.
  - dbmikus 3y ago
    I think Show HN posts from YC startups are actually boosted by the system. Same with the hiring posts for YC startups. So it's not people, but explicitly coded in. But I don't know if this is truly the case.
    - robbomacrae 3y ago
      Well that hardly seems ethical...

danielmarkbruce 3y ago

Why do you say "non-technical" ? That's clearly wrong. Just because someone is no longer hands on keys, doesn't make them non-technical. Are larry and sergey non-technical? The collison brothers? None of them are hands on keys anymore. The answer to the question is - even people who don't like him realize he's a smart guy and this was a dumb move, and it was done in an amateurish way by a board out of their depth.

himaraya 3y ago
No longer? Sam has never substantially dealt with the underlying code for OpenAI, compared to say Demis Hassabis. He resembles Brian Chesky & Joe Gebbia more than Nathan Blecharczyk.
- danielmarkbruce 3y ago
  Changing companies doesn't mean they go from a "former engineer" to a "never was engineer".

jackblemming 3y ago

He’s an anointed tech bro, to fire him and replace him with someone else who will probably do as a fine job is like saying the emperor has no clothes. Notice how in shock everyone was that a CEO was fired the same way us regular peasants are fired everyday.

sensanaty 3y ago
That's the part that gets me, the same people who would react to news of "13,000 employeess laid off" as a brilliant strategic move are the same ones acting as if Sammy boy getting sacked here is the biggest affront ever committed is shocking to me.
- Nathanba 3y ago
  it's probably the main reason why CEOs get paid so much: They aren't just workers anymore, they are public figures with fans and followers that support them beyond their objective work value

mym1990 3y ago

The fact that you think Altman came around yesterday just shows that you live under a rock. The fact that you think “non-technical” people don’t contribute meaningful value is also worrisome.

sensanaty 3y ago
If the rock doesn't have people like Altman and his cult followers, then I'd say it's a cozy spot for me to be in. > The fact that you think “non-technical” people don’t contribute meaningful value to anything means you are stupid Happy to call myself an imbecile in this case!

didip 3y ago

It’s not hard to imagine why relevant people want him to stay. They all want to get the big payday, including Microsoft. People are in the startup game for the big payday. And Sam Altman is the best person given where OpenAI is at right now.

yedava 3y ago

Historically, whenever there was an inflection point for a new technology, you'd have lots of people working on the same problem, and whoever cracks the problem first is put of pedestal. Revisionist history is built around that one person asserting that if it weren't for them, that said technology would never have materialized. We're just seeing a variation of that playing out live. There are multiple teams working on AI, ChatGPT got "there" first and now we have a single heroic figure to worship. Personality cults seem to be a part of the quintessential human condition.

voidfunc 3y ago

This website gets so fucking salty about business people.

ssnistfajen 3y ago

People love worshipping idols and saints, even when the demographic is largely irreligious. Plus, the tech scene is extremely prone to hopping on trends and then taking it way too far. If you want some real cringe, check out @varun_mathur's long Twitter post from Nov 18th. Although at its core, firing Altman under current circumstances was still a poorly thought-out decision which evidently caused the event itself to become a major centre of attention.