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In my opinion this is most likely. Scenario A, Sam Altman continues as CEO and the for profit arm of OpenAI continues to call the shots, growth and market shar

In my opinion this is most likely. Scenario A, Sam Altman continues as CEO and the for profit arm of OpenAI continues to call the shots, growth and market share continue to be priority number one. Scenario B, Sam Altman is fired, OpenAI non-profit board (re?)-asserts more control. Safety, alignment and other things like that take priority over growth and market share. x% of Employees are Sam believers, and when the remaining x% of ambiguous/non-Sam believers realize the first x% might leave, their PSUs would be worth significantly less, so they sign the letter as well. There is also the peer pressure / fear of retribution factor as well once it becomes likely there is even a chance of Sam being reinstated. Many employees choose scenario A because it is likely their "profit sharing units" will be worth more than with scenario B. There's a non-zero chance that OpenAI (the for profit arm) eventually joins the ranks of the "FAANG" companies. Those PSUs might be worth millions today, but in the future could be worth "fuck you" levels of money.

tptacek 2y ago
Yeah, for what it's worth, I'm not guessing about the comment I wrote; could be totally wrong, but it's something I heard from two different people close to the story.
MyFedora 2y ago
So then why did the board re-hire Sam Altman? A non-profit board should want a CEO befitting a non-profit company in my eyes, not one that promotes a for-profit culture. I see losing employees with for-profit motives as a desirable side effect of firing Sam Altman.
- stale2002 2y ago
  > I see losing employees with for-profit motives as a desirable side effect of firing Sam Altman. That would shutdown the entire company. And I would hope that wasn't their goal. > So then why did the board re-hire Sam Altman? Presumably so that the entire company wouldn't be shutdown.
  - MyFedora 2y ago
    > That would shutdown the entire company. Yeah... and? OpenAI is pretty much a for-profit company now. Why shouldn't a non-profit board pull the plug on a non-profit turned for-profit? Isn't that a part of their job?
    - stale2002 2y ago
      > Yeah... and? And then it can't use that money on its mission because it shut down. > Isn't that a part of their job? No, it isn't. Their job would be to use the income that they received from that part of the business and spend it on their mission. There are all sorts of non profits that operate in a similar way. In fact acting sustainably is generally a positive for non-profits because it means that you can be more effective for longer without having to rely on donations.

tptacek 2y ago

Yeah, for what it's worth, I'm not guessing about the comment I wrote; could be totally wrong, but it's something I heard from two different people close to the story.

MyFedora 2y ago

So then why did the board re-hire Sam Altman? A non-profit board should want a CEO befitting a non-profit company in my eyes, not one that promotes a for-profit culture. I see losing employees with for-profit motives as a desirable side effect of firing Sam Altman.

stale2002 2y ago
> I see losing employees with for-profit motives as a desirable side effect of firing Sam Altman. That would shutdown the entire company. And I would hope that wasn't their goal. > So then why did the board re-hire Sam Altman? Presumably so that the entire company wouldn't be shutdown.
- MyFedora 2y ago
  > That would shutdown the entire company. Yeah... and? OpenAI is pretty much a for-profit company now. Why shouldn't a non-profit board pull the plug on a non-profit turned for-profit? Isn't that a part of their job?
  - stale2002 2y ago
    > Yeah... and? And then it can't use that money on its mission because it shut down. > Isn't that a part of their job? No, it isn't. Their job would be to use the income that they received from that part of the business and spend it on their mission. There are all sorts of non profits that operate in a similar way. In fact acting sustainably is generally a positive for non-profits because it means that you can be more effective for longer without having to rely on donations.