My read is that it is an internal power struggle and jockeying to be in charge of what could potentially be the biggest company on the planet ($$$ and power). The market hates this move. I expect more heads to roll and Altman could very possibly be back with some sort of iron-clad agreement that doesn't allow the board to just kick him to the curb.
They can't continue to operate as a non profit in their current direction. The power struggle is largely how to manage the operation. I get Jobs vs Wozniak vibes.
On the surface, sounds like it's related to AI safety concerns. OpenAI board in discussions with Sam Altman to return as CEO - The Verge The OpenAI board is in discussions with Sam Altman to return to the company as its CEO, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. One of them said Altman, who was suddenly fired by the board on Friday with no notice, is “ambivalent” about coming back and would want significant governance changes. Update November 18th, 5:35PM PT: A source close to Altman says the board had agreed in principle to resign and to allow Altman and Brockman to return, but has since waffled — missing a key 5PM PT deadline by which many OpenAI staffers were set to resign. If Altman decides to leave and start a new company, those staffers would assuredly go with him. Update November 19th, 11:50AM PT: Last night, after we learned OpenAI was trying to get Altman back and that the board was waffling, chief strategy officer Jason Kwon told employees that the company is “optimistic” about Altman returning and would share more Sunday morning. Meanwhile, a bunch of OpenAI employees took to X to voice their support of Altman with heart emojis. You can follow future updates here. ... Sutskever, who also co-founded OpenAI and leads its researchers, was instrumental in the ousting of Altman this week, according to multiple sources. His role in the coup suggests a power struggle between the research and product sides of the company, the sources say.
All I can think is "these are the goofballs that want to create the AI that will run our futures and lives? Find me a cave."
OpenAI is hiring former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear to run company two days after ousting Sam Altman Sam Altman’s Attempt to Return as OpenAI CEO Fails as Board Turns to ex-Twitch CEO
Things get curiouser and curiouser… Microsoft hires former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Greg Brockman, OpenAI co-founder, is also joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team
He’s going to hate Microsoft. It’s the most bureaucratic company I’ve ever worked with, including numerous government agencies.
Totally depends on what team(s) you work on. There are plenty of teams there that move pretty quickly. But yeah, if you work on older technology, it really is like working for the government. Part of that is the code base and underlying tech stacks being so old that if you don't work slowly, you'll almost certainly break everything.
I'm conflicted - I cannot stand Bill Gates (and Ballmer seems crazy to me), but I do like Satya. Probably the best big tech CEO out there.
I'm talking about convoluted and bottlenecked business practices, not development work. I get that there are different rulesets for different people (which is how I generally bulldoze through BS in business) but it's going to become a serious thorn in his side dealing with that work culture.
This soap opera keeps getting better. Now the Brutus himself signs a letter asking for the board (on which he sits) to resign and to reinstate Altman. like lol wtf
