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> I think there's a small but real chance he's eventually remembered as a Bernie Madoff What's with all the hit pieces on Sam Altman lately? He's a CEO, his jo
by glerk 6mo ago
> I think there's a small but real chance he's eventually remembered as a Bernie Madoff
What's with all the hit pieces on Sam Altman lately? He's a CEO, his job is to grow the business, not to code. That part is handled by the engineers that he hired. How many CEOs out there are also great programmers? Sure, I would prefer Sam Altman to have more technical depth given the business he is leading, but lack of technical depth doesn't make him a Bernie Madoff.
- cal_dent 6mo agoexactly. frankly its just a bunch of pissy holier than thou engineer thing. He seems to be pretty good at raising capital and selling dreams which his predominantly what Openai seemingly wants to be right now. New Yorker article less so because its just a standard ceo profile piece that digs out pretty pertinent things for a ceo role
- mikeryan 6mo agoWell there's the whole issue that Open AI wasn't a "business" when it started, it was in fact a non-profit focused on safe AGI for humanity. That said the whole "He's a CEO thing" is a convenient escape hatch now that it's a for-profit business (just ignore the whole way it got there). Just because you're a successful CEO doesn't mean you're not a shitty person or immune from so-called "hit pieces".
- glerk 6mo agoYeah sure no one high profile is immune from hit pieces, and I'm not pretending Sam Altman is flawless. But I would want the attacks to be fair. OpenAI pivoting from their original business model is fair criticism. "Sam Altman doesn't know how to code, therefore he's the next Bernie Madoff" is not. Intellectually dishonest stuff like this doesn't belong on HN front page.
- mikeryan 6mo agoI agree this article doesn’t add to the conversation except as additional color that belongs in a larger story. I think it’s about as strong as trying to absolve Sam by saying “he’s a CEO so he does CEO things.”
- nostrademons 6mo agoMy tinfoil hat is that Elon Musk is suing Sam Altman for control of OpenAI, and when you are the richest man on earth, you can afford a lot of money on hit pieces. Interestingly, the charge of "can barely code and frequently misunderstands technical concepts" is one that is often leveled at Elon Musk.
- palmotea 6mo ago> My tinfoil hat is that Elon Musk is suing Sam Altman for control of OpenAI, and when you are the richest man on earth, you can afford a lot of money on hit pieces. Altman is in a prime position to influence a potentially massively disruptive technology. There have been well-publicized doubts about his character since at least around the time he was fired from OpenAI. There was recently a very reputable and thoroughly-researched article on that topic. You don't need a conspiracy. He's a public figure and a trending topic.