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The idea that OpenAI had him killed is beyond ludicrous. Even if it were in any way realistic that OpenAI leadership somehow had access to hit men (!!), killin

The idea that OpenAI had him killed is beyond ludicrous. Even if it were in any way realistic that OpenAI leadership somehow had access to hit men (!!), killing this guy would have been absolutely pointless as far as OpenAI's possible legal troubles go. The notion is not only outlandish, but also illogical. He publicly stated OpenAI used copyright materials. What would killing him now possibly accomplish? Is there some legal statute I'm unaware of where a company can't be investigated if the original whistleblower is dead? It's not like he's the sole witness to a crime, and without his testimony the case disappears.

lawn 2y ago
> The idea that OpenAI had him killed is beyond ludicrous Regular people have hired contract killers to kill their partner, for completely pointless and stupid reasons. What's ludicrous is your outright dismissal.
isthatafact 2y ago
> "The idea that OpenAI had him killed is beyond ludicrous." On the other hand, given that everyone either assumes the whistle-blower was murdered, or at least that the stress of the situation contributed to the suicide, why did OpenAI not do absolutely everything in their power to keep the person safe and mentally well? Why should OpenAI have zero liability for the death, which anyone could have foreseen was a reasonably possible outcome? It just seems like whistleblower protection laws could be much more effective if the company had genuine incentive in the person not dying.
freehorse 2y ago
Testifying during a trial? I am not saying this happened, but it is not unheard of witnesses in high-profile trials to get murdered (and getting covered up) even if they have been public about it. Getting public about it means nothing in terms of testimonies during the trial, and if the person is dead there is no witness's testimony to be used. I do not know about the specifics in "open"AI's court cases, but the fact if him being public in general does not mean much, as I understand it. Moreover, it can scare future whistleblowers. The motive is definitely there, now if this is what happened is a different story.
whatshisface 2y ago
Having access to hit men isn't actually that difficult, the hard part is telling which ones are undercover police. Murderers don't act rationally. If someone at OpenAI did kill this guy, it wouldn't have been because they thought it was in their interest. It would have been because they had some kind of emotional problem or an extreme case of entitlement and thought they could get away with it. People in all walks of life will commit crimes, and guessing innocence on the basis of rational motives is about as reliable as guessing guilt.
stackghost 2y ago
I don't have any skin in the game as far as this particular case goes but if there was a list of CEOs who would order a hit, Sam Altman would 110% be near the top of that list. The guy is a straight-up sociopath. > What would killing him now possibly accomplish? Dissuading future potential whistleblowers of course.
- blindriver 2y ago
  He always makes very loud, bold statements to make himself look good and then quietly reverses them later on. I don’t care about money. But he drives a $4 million car. OpenAI will never be for profit. Actually we will create a for-profit wing. I will never take equity. My investors want me to take an equity stake, not me! OpenAI will not be used for weapons. OpenAI will be used for defensive weapons only. Don’t believe anything he says at this point. He wants AGI and he wants to cut everyone else out and he wants to be in control of it and become the next richest and most powerful man in the world.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
shepherdjerred 2y ago
> Even if it were in any way realistic that OpenAI leadership somehow had access to hit men I don't think it's crazy to think people with that much money could find a way to have someone killed.
- khazhoux 2y ago
  It's absolutely bonkers to think that the leadership of OpenAI thought to themselves: "This employee who spilled the beans on our use of copyrighted material, we better off him before he says more." That's just nuts. It's the weakest-sauce of possible things to blow a whistle on anyway, given how content owners are already pitchforks-out against AI companies since day one. He's a random employee who came out and said "That obvious thing you all think OpenAI is doing (slurping in copyrighted data)... yup they did that." And exactly how woult killing him would fix their problem anyway? People here are indulging in fantasy.
  - blindriver 2y ago
    It doesn’t have to be the CEO or the execs directly and there are many plausible stories that could have occurred. What if it was a former coworker who is deeply in gambling debt and needs OpenAI to IPO in order for him to not lose everything in his life? I think the people around the whistleblower would know better whether or not he was in the mental state to commit suicide. No note for his parents is pretty sus, especially given all the plans they made to visit.
  - shepherdjerred 2y ago
    I don’t think that they played a part in this, only that they have the means.
blindriver 2y ago
It’s improbable but not ludicrous. The Steiners were harassed and threatened both online and physically in their home by deliveries of such things as a bloody pig mask, live cockroaches and spiders, a funeral wreath, and large orders of pizza.[5][1][6] Pornographic magazines with David Steiner’s name on them were sent to a neighbor’s house.[5][1][6] Employees flew from California to Boston so they could vandalize the couple's Natick, Massachusetts home as well as stalk their personal vehicle.[1][6] Plans were even made to break into the couple's garage and place a GPS tracker on their car.[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay_stalking_scandal https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay_stalking_scandal
- throwaway48476 2y ago
  This is just the incompetent tip of the iceberg.
tarkin2 2y ago
Intimidation of future whistleblowers
yolkedgeek 2y ago
I can only imagine you being a "1st world" citizen for being this naive. > "OpenAI somehow had access to hit men (!!)" You think hitmen are only for movies?? Even much much smaller scale companies have people who sort out their problems. OpenAI is one of the biggest companies. Of course it has hitmen, connections with the police, FBI, CIA, NSA and whatever you can think of. These companies (Boeing, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft) are sending a MESSAGE to the future whistleblowers. "You step on our tail, you're done" and they are making it as obvious as possible and you idiots still don't get the message? You think these are some cute goofy nerds sitting and doing tech stuff and playing warcraft all day?
- liamwire 2y ago
  Absurd, what makes you think a criminal conspiracy of the scale you’re speculating about could possible stay secret, long term?

lawn 2y ago

> The idea that OpenAI had him killed is beyond ludicrous Regular people have hired contract killers to kill their partner, for completely pointless and stupid reasons. What's ludicrous is your outright dismissal.

isthatafact 2y ago

> "The idea that OpenAI had him killed is beyond ludicrous." On the other hand, given that everyone either assumes the whistle-blower was murdered, or at least that the stress of the situation contributed to the suicide, why did OpenAI not do absolutely everything in their power to keep the person safe and mentally well? Why should OpenAI have zero liability for the death, which anyone could have foreseen was a reasonably possible outcome? It just seems like whistleblower protection laws could be much more effective if the company had genuine incentive in the person not dying.

freehorse 2y ago

Testifying during a trial? I am not saying this happened, but it is not unheard of witnesses in high-profile trials to get murdered (and getting covered up) even if they have been public about it. Getting public about it means nothing in terms of testimonies during the trial, and if the person is dead there is no witness's testimony to be used. I do not know about the specifics in "open"AI's court cases, but the fact if him being public in general does not mean much, as I understand it. Moreover, it can scare future whistleblowers. The motive is definitely there, now if this is what happened is a different story.

whatshisface 2y ago

Having access to hit men isn't actually that difficult, the hard part is telling which ones are undercover police. Murderers don't act rationally. If someone at OpenAI did kill this guy, it wouldn't have been because they thought it was in their interest. It would have been because they had some kind of emotional problem or an extreme case of entitlement and thought they could get away with it. People in all walks of life will commit crimes, and guessing innocence on the basis of rational motives is about as reliable as guessing guilt.

stackghost 2y ago

I don't have any skin in the game as far as this particular case goes but if there was a list of CEOs who would order a hit, Sam Altman would 110% be near the top of that list. The guy is a straight-up sociopath. > What would killing him now possibly accomplish? Dissuading future potential whistleblowers of course.

blindriver 2y ago
He always makes very loud, bold statements to make himself look good and then quietly reverses them later on. I don’t care about money. But he drives a $4 million car. OpenAI will never be for profit. Actually we will create a for-profit wing. I will never take equity. My investors want me to take an equity stake, not me! OpenAI will not be used for weapons. OpenAI will be used for defensive weapons only. Don’t believe anything he says at this point. He wants AGI and he wants to cut everyone else out and he wants to be in control of it and become the next richest and most powerful man in the world.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

shepherdjerred 2y ago

> Even if it were in any way realistic that OpenAI leadership somehow had access to hit men I don't think it's crazy to think people with that much money could find a way to have someone killed.

khazhoux 2y ago
It's absolutely bonkers to think that the leadership of OpenAI thought to themselves: "This employee who spilled the beans on our use of copyrighted material, we better off him before he says more." That's just nuts. It's the weakest-sauce of possible things to blow a whistle on anyway, given how content owners are already pitchforks-out against AI companies since day one. He's a random employee who came out and said "That obvious thing you all think OpenAI is doing (slurping in copyrighted data)... yup they did that." And exactly how woult killing him would fix their problem anyway? People here are indulging in fantasy.
- blindriver 2y ago
  It doesn’t have to be the CEO or the execs directly and there are many plausible stories that could have occurred. What if it was a former coworker who is deeply in gambling debt and needs OpenAI to IPO in order for him to not lose everything in his life? I think the people around the whistleblower would know better whether or not he was in the mental state to commit suicide. No note for his parents is pretty sus, especially given all the plans they made to visit.
- shepherdjerred 2y ago
  I don’t think that they played a part in this, only that they have the means.

blindriver 2y ago

It’s improbable but not ludicrous. The Steiners were harassed and threatened both online and physically in their home by deliveries of such things as a bloody pig mask, live cockroaches and spiders, a funeral wreath, and large orders of pizza.[5][1][6] Pornographic magazines with David Steiner’s name on them were sent to a neighbor’s house.[5][1][6] Employees flew from California to Boston so they could vandalize the couple's Natick, Massachusetts home as well as stalk their personal vehicle.[1][6] Plans were even made to break into the couple's garage and place a GPS tracker on their car.[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay_stalking_scandal https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay_stalking_scandal

throwaway48476 2y ago
This is just the incompetent tip of the iceberg.

tarkin2 2y ago

Intimidation of future whistleblowers

yolkedgeek 2y ago

I can only imagine you being a "1st world" citizen for being this naive. > "OpenAI somehow had access to hit men (!!)" You think hitmen are only for movies?? Even much much smaller scale companies have people who sort out their problems. OpenAI is one of the biggest companies. Of course it has hitmen, connections with the police, FBI, CIA, NSA and whatever you can think of. These companies (Boeing, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft) are sending a MESSAGE to the future whistleblowers. "You step on our tail, you're done" and they are making it as obvious as possible and you idiots still don't get the message? You think these are some cute goofy nerds sitting and doing tech stuff and playing warcraft all day?

liamwire 2y ago
Absurd, what makes you think a criminal conspiracy of the scale you’re speculating about could possible stay secret, long term?