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Behind the Scenes of Sam Altman's Showdown at OpenAI

4 points by samspenc 3y ago

samspenc 3y ago
This article has some info not reported elsewhere: "This article is based on interviews with more than a dozen insiders at OpenAI and people around the company’s hectic weekend." "Sam Altman was in Las Vegas for the biggest party of the weekend, the Formula One race, when he opened the Google Meet link that would set off a whiplash-inducing corporate power struggle" "The explanation baffles Altman’s defenders, who say they aren’t aware of specific episodes that might warrant such an outcome." "telling directors that their actions could trigger the company’s collapse. “That would actually be consistent with the mission,” replied board member Helen Toner, a director at a Washington policy research organization who joined the board two years ago." "Murati and Sutskever led an all-hands meeting at 2 p.m. Employees peppered them with dozens of questions, many of which were some version of: what did Sam do? One employee asked if they would ever find out, to which Sutskever replied, “No.”"
- samspenc 3y ago
  "Murati and Sutskever led an all-hands meeting at 2 p.m. Employees peppered them with dozens of questions, many of which were some version of: what did Sam do? One employee asked if they would ever find out, to which Sutskever replied, “No.” After that meeting, the executive team regrouped in a conference room. A member of the executive team told Sutskever that the lack of detail was unacceptable and demanded the rest of the board join a video call to explain, according to people familiar with the matter. On the call, the leadership team pressed the board over the course of about 40 minutes for specific examples of Altman’s lack of candor, the people said. The board refused, citing legal reasons, the people said. Some executives said they were getting questions from regulators and law-enforcement entities such as the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan over the charge of Altman’s alleged lack of candor, the people said. The truth was going to come out one way or another, they told the board." "The board agreed to discuss the matter with their counsel. After a few hours, they returned, still unwilling to provide specifics. They said that Altman wasn’t candid, and often got his way. The board said that Altman had been so deft they couldn’t even give a specific example, according to the people familiar with the executives. The executives requested written examples of the board’s allegations."
  - dekhn 3y ago
    I'm curious about "Some executives said they were getting questions from regulators and law-enforcement entities such as the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan over the charge of Altman’s alleged lack of candor, the people said." Does that mean, the execs were getting requests in the past few days from the US AG about Altman's lack of candor, based on what the board posted, but the execs didn't know about? That sequence of events just sounds a bit convoluted so I want to understand: the US AG is probing OpenAI's execs about their CEO's "lack of candor".
    - samspenc 3y ago
      My understanding is that this was the sequence: - Board posts publicly about Altman's lack of candor - US regulatory agencies start asking about what this lack of candor was - Board refuses to reply
- samspenc 3y ago
  "The negotiations stretched late into the night, as multiple rounds of takeout were delivered to the Mission District offices and reporters from multiple news outlets staked out the scene like a papal conclave. Inside, employees gathered, some openly sobbing. When the white smoke came, it wasn’t Altman. Emmett Shear, the co-founder of video-streaming service Twitch and a vocal proponent of a slower approach to developing AI, had been named CEO by the board. Microsoft was given no heads-up about the decision, but when it dropped Nadella had a plan at the ready: Altman and Brockman would go to Microsoft to start a new AI unit, one person said."
- calf 3y ago
  Makes me wonder again what imaginable problem it could be that a non-profit board would think it had to be kept secret.
biglyburrito 3y ago
Paywall.
- samspenc 3y ago
  https://archive.ph/oZA2d https://archive.ph/oZA2d
samspenc 3y ago
https://archive.ph/oZA2d https://archive.ph/oZA2d
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

4 points by samspenc 3y ago

This article has some info not reported elsewhere: "This article is based on interviews with more than a dozen insiders at OpenAI and people around the company’s hectic weekend." "Sam Altman was in Las Vegas for the biggest party of the weekend, the Formula One race, when he opened the Google Meet link that would set off a whiplash-inducing corporate power struggle" "The explanation baffles Altman’s defenders, who say they aren’t aware of specific episodes that might warrant such an outcome." "telling directors that their actions could trigger the company’s collapse. “That would actually be consistent with the mission,” replied board member Helen Toner, a director at a Washington policy research organization who joined the board two years ago." "Murati and Sutskever led an all-hands meeting at 2 p.m. Employees peppered them with dozens of questions, many of which were some version of: what did Sam do? One employee asked if they would ever find out, to which Sutskever replied, “No.”"

samspenc 3y ago
"Murati and Sutskever led an all-hands meeting at 2 p.m. Employees peppered them with dozens of questions, many of which were some version of: what did Sam do? One employee asked if they would ever find out, to which Sutskever replied, “No.” After that meeting, the executive team regrouped in a conference room. A member of the executive team told Sutskever that the lack of detail was unacceptable and demanded the rest of the board join a video call to explain, according to people familiar with the matter. On the call, the leadership team pressed the board over the course of about 40 minutes for specific examples of Altman’s lack of candor, the people said. The board refused, citing legal reasons, the people said. Some executives said they were getting questions from regulators and law-enforcement entities such as the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan over the charge of Altman’s alleged lack of candor, the people said. The truth was going to come out one way or another, they told the board." "The board agreed to discuss the matter with their counsel. After a few hours, they returned, still unwilling to provide specifics. They said that Altman wasn’t candid, and often got his way. The board said that Altman had been so deft they couldn’t even give a specific example, according to the people familiar with the executives. The executives requested written examples of the board’s allegations."
- dekhn 3y ago
  I'm curious about "Some executives said they were getting questions from regulators and law-enforcement entities such as the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan over the charge of Altman’s alleged lack of candor, the people said." Does that mean, the execs were getting requests in the past few days from the US AG about Altman's lack of candor, based on what the board posted, but the execs didn't know about? That sequence of events just sounds a bit convoluted so I want to understand: the US AG is probing OpenAI's execs about their CEO's "lack of candor".
  - samspenc 3y ago
    My understanding is that this was the sequence: - Board posts publicly about Altman's lack of candor - US regulatory agencies start asking about what this lack of candor was - Board refuses to reply
samspenc 3y ago
"The negotiations stretched late into the night, as multiple rounds of takeout were delivered to the Mission District offices and reporters from multiple news outlets staked out the scene like a papal conclave. Inside, employees gathered, some openly sobbing. When the white smoke came, it wasn’t Altman. Emmett Shear, the co-founder of video-streaming service Twitch and a vocal proponent of a slower approach to developing AI, had been named CEO by the board. Microsoft was given no heads-up about the decision, but when it dropped Nadella had a plan at the ready: Altman and Brockman would go to Microsoft to start a new AI unit, one person said."
calf 3y ago
Makes me wonder again what imaginable problem it could be that a non-profit board would think it had to be kept secret.

biglyburrito 3y ago

Paywall.

samspenc 3y ago
https://archive.ph/oZA2d https://archive.ph/oZA2d

samspenc 3y ago

https://archive.ph/oZA2d https://archive.ph/oZA2d

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]