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November 23, 2023
Open AI: The Real Story Behind the Wild Four Days Between Sam Altman's Firing and Return
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Contributed by: Bill Russell
Summary
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman fired amid company's conflict. Two factions arose: Altman/Greg Brockman versus Ilya Sutskever/Helen Toner. OpenAI, starting as a nonprofit, aimed at accomplishing superintelligent system for humanity's benefit. It spawned a profitable subsidiary, drawing a $1 billion investment from Microsoft, controlled by a nonprofit board prioritizing humanity over investors. A dispute arose between Altman and Toner over an AI safety report. Altman's proposed board removal of Toner backfired, resulting in his own firing. The company faced a substantial fallout from Altman's abrupt termination. Further revelations include a staff warning regarding a potential humanity-threatening AI discovery code-named Q-Star. Altman has resumed the CEO role, without the board seat, alongside a board restructuring. The saga highlighted the need for AI safety, ethics, and governance.
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