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Seems like the board's mission went off the rails long ago and it acted late. Some snippets from the OpenAI website... "Investing in OpenAI Global, LLC is a hi

by gexla 3y ago

Seems like the board's mission went off the rails long ago and it acted late. Some snippets from the OpenAI website... "Investing in OpenAI Global, LLC is a high-risk investment" "Investors could lose their capital contribution and not see any return" "It would be wise to view any investment in OpenAI Global, LLC in the spirit of a donation, with the understanding that it may be difficult to know what role money will play in a post-AGI world" These are some heavy statements. It's fine to accept money from private investors who really do believe in that mission. It seems like you can't continue with the same mission if you're taking billions from public companies which have investors who are very much interested in profit. It's like putting your head in the sand with your hand out. One of the board members seemed to believe that destroying OpenAI could still be inline with the mission. If that's the case, then they should have accepted slow progress due to funding constraints and killed the idea of creating the for-profit.

Xelynega 3y ago
Could it be possible that the board was just naive and believed that they would be able to control a capped-profit arm, but the inevitable mechanisms of capital eventually took over once they let them in?
toddmorey 3y ago
I can't find these quotes (especially the post-AGI world quote) on their site.
- gexla 3y ago
  Sorry, should have linked to it. You can find it in a purple box on this page... https://openai.com/our-structure https://openai.com/our-structure
NotYourLawyer 3y ago
>It seems like you can't continue with the same mission if you're taking billions from public companies which have investors who are very much interested in profit. Why not? Public companies contribute to charities all the time.
- gexla 3y ago
  If the stories from media and elsewhere were correct, then current and future investors (Microsoft, Thrive Capital) were pressuring OpenAI to bring back Sam. They wouldn't be doing that if they were giving to charity?
- rowls66 3y ago
  Not at the scale involved here.
maxglute 3y ago
>should have accepted slow progress Sure, should have. I think indicators in the last year have pointed to the domain developing much faster than anticipated, with Ilya seemingly incredulous at how well models he spend his career developing, suddenly started working and scaling incredibly well. If they thought billions of "donations" would sustain development in commercial capabilities X within constraints of the mission, but got X^10 way outside constraints, and their explicit goal was to to make sure X^10 doesn't arrive without Y^10 in consideration for safety, it's reasonable for hard liners to reevaluate, and if forces behind the billions get in the way, to burn it all down.

by gexla 3y ago

Xelynega 3y ago

Could it be possible that the board was just naive and believed that they would be able to control a capped-profit arm, but the inevitable mechanisms of capital eventually took over once they let them in?

toddmorey 3y ago

I can't find these quotes (especially the post-AGI world quote) on their site.

gexla 3y ago
Sorry, should have linked to it. You can find it in a purple box on this page... https://openai.com/our-structure https://openai.com/our-structure

NotYourLawyer 3y ago

>It seems like you can't continue with the same mission if you're taking billions from public companies which have investors who are very much interested in profit. Why not? Public companies contribute to charities all the time.

gexla 3y ago
If the stories from media and elsewhere were correct, then current and future investors (Microsoft, Thrive Capital) were pressuring OpenAI to bring back Sam. They wouldn't be doing that if they were giving to charity?
rowls66 3y ago
Not at the scale involved here.

maxglute 3y ago

>should have accepted slow progress Sure, should have. I think indicators in the last year have pointed to the domain developing much faster than anticipated, with Ilya seemingly incredulous at how well models he spend his career developing, suddenly started working and scaling incredibly well. If they thought billions of "donations" would sustain development in commercial capabilities X within constraints of the mission, but got X^10 way outside constraints, and their explicit goal was to to make sure X^10 doesn't arrive without Y^10 in consideration for safety, it's reasonable for hard liners to reevaluate, and if forces behind the billions get in the way, to burn it all down.