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From the article: > On the podcast, Toner attributed Altman's swift return to employees being told that the company would collapse without him. > Additionally

From the article: > On the podcast, Toner attributed Altman's swift return to employees being told that the company would collapse without him. > Additionally, once a potential return seemed likely, employees feared retaliation from Altman if they did not support him, she said.

aikinai 2y ago
> employees being told that the company would collapse without him. These employees are smart enough to decide for themselves how critical they believe Altman is.
- siva7 2y ago
  I also get the vibe from her that she believes those employees are dumb sheep who can't decide for themselves who their lead should be.
  - chipdart 2y ago
    > those employees are dumb sheep who can't decide for themselves The point is that they are smart because they know not to put themselves at risk with actions that would not lead to get rid of a threat. > (...) decide for themselves who their lead should be. They didn't had a vote or a choice. People living under a dictatorship also don't decide who their leader is when the dictator prompts them to show their support.
  - pantalaimon 2y ago
    Well she thinks the same of the general population, that is that they would believe everything generated by AI
  - the_mitsuhiko 2y ago
    I only listened to parts of it but I did not get that vibe. For me it sounds like there was a lot of pressure applied. Particularly given the secondaries it does not at all surprise me that it was a very likely outcome. If a leader does not want to step down and the leader has power, that leader can wreck chaos where the rational move is to leave the leader in place. I don’t know enough about OpenAI or Sam Altman to judge the situation but given the absolutely chaotic situation when it unfolded it sounded very rational to restore the prior status quo.
- chipdart 2y ago
  You somehow missed the whole point, which is that once retaliation was extremely likely these employees decided to not put themselves at risk. This is how dictators get their 99% approval rating, and why democracies enshrine the right to vote in secrecy.
- ben_w 2y ago
  Crowd dynamics and snap decisions are very different from individuals and carefully considering all aspects before jumping in.
raverbashing 2y ago
> Altman's swift return to employees being told that the company would collapse without him. Regardless of who said/who thought that... Why would it? Engineers need to take a good look at the mirror and stop idolizing "visionary jerk" figures.
- jaggs 2y ago
  Um...because Microsoft offered to take on all staff at existing pay rates if OpenAI imploded? That was the pivotal point IIRC.
franky47 2y ago
Altman impersonating Roko's Basilisk is very much on-point for an AI company.
- deely3 2y ago
  Huh, its Roko's Basilisk all along

aikinai 2y ago

> employees being told that the company would collapse without him. These employees are smart enough to decide for themselves how critical they believe Altman is.

siva7 2y ago
I also get the vibe from her that she believes those employees are dumb sheep who can't decide for themselves who their lead should be.
- chipdart 2y ago
  > those employees are dumb sheep who can't decide for themselves The point is that they are smart because they know not to put themselves at risk with actions that would not lead to get rid of a threat. > (...) decide for themselves who their lead should be. They didn't had a vote or a choice. People living under a dictatorship also don't decide who their leader is when the dictator prompts them to show their support.
- pantalaimon 2y ago
  Well she thinks the same of the general population, that is that they would believe everything generated by AI
- the_mitsuhiko 2y ago
  I only listened to parts of it but I did not get that vibe. For me it sounds like there was a lot of pressure applied. Particularly given the secondaries it does not at all surprise me that it was a very likely outcome. If a leader does not want to step down and the leader has power, that leader can wreck chaos where the rational move is to leave the leader in place. I don’t know enough about OpenAI or Sam Altman to judge the situation but given the absolutely chaotic situation when it unfolded it sounded very rational to restore the prior status quo.
chipdart 2y ago
You somehow missed the whole point, which is that once retaliation was extremely likely these employees decided to not put themselves at risk. This is how dictators get their 99% approval rating, and why democracies enshrine the right to vote in secrecy.
ben_w 2y ago
Crowd dynamics and snap decisions are very different from individuals and carefully considering all aspects before jumping in.

raverbashing 2y ago

> Altman's swift return to employees being told that the company would collapse without him. Regardless of who said/who thought that... Why would it? Engineers need to take a good look at the mirror and stop idolizing "visionary jerk" figures.

jaggs 2y ago
Um...because Microsoft offered to take on all staff at existing pay rates if OpenAI imploded? That was the pivotal point IIRC.

franky47 2y ago

Altman impersonating Roko's Basilisk is very much on-point for an AI company.

deely3 2y ago
Huh, its Roko's Basilisk all along