After two days of roller-coaster negotiations at OpenAI HQ due to the curiosity of CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has declare that Microsoft plans to hire Altman and former OpenAI CEO Greg Brockman to head “a new advanced AI research team.” Overnight, the OpenAI board named a new CEO, Emmett Shear, who acknowledged the dirty process and promise to hire an investigator to produce a full report on the Altman shooting.
But the story is not over yet, because on Monday morning, 650 of OpenAI’s 770 employees sent a letter to the OpenAI board demanding that all current board members resign and that Altman and Brockman be reinstated, or they will leave to join Altman and Brockman at Microsoft. (Apparently the number of signatures to the letter is still growing.)
“The process by which you terminated Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman from the board put this entire project at risk and undermined our mission and our company,” the letter said. “Your behavior has made it clear that you are incapable of managing OpenAI.”
Ilya Sutskever, whom sources identified as the key architect of Altman’s shooting, also appeared to have had a change of heart on Monday morning, tweeting“I deeply regret my participation in the board’s activities. I did not intend to harm OpenAI. I love everything we have built together and I will do everything I can to restore the company.”
Sutskever is a deep believer in the future promotion of world-changing advanced AI (called “AGI,” for artificial general intelligence) who thinks that one day it could replace humans in many jobs or it even threatens life on earth if it is not developed safely, which is the core function of OpenAI. According to the article AtlanticSutskever became something of a guru on the topic at OpenAI, lead songs of “feeling the AGI” during ceremonies and even burning a wooden representation of the “improper” AI in the effigy target.
Interestingly, those who did not sign the 650-strong protest letter included both Sutskever and former interim CEO Mira Murati, whom the board voted to replace with Emmett Shear against the wishes of the company’s staff. After Murati’s removal, the letter said the OpenAI board “told the leadership team that allowing the company to be destroyed ‘would be consistent with the mission.'”
Confusion is ongoing
The latest news capped a weekend of negotiations that saw ups and downs as insiders were the tips to the media. To recap briefly, OpenAI’s board fired Altman on Friday in a surprise move that stunned OpenAI employees and investors, said that Altman “was not always honest in his communications with the board.” However, many reports have since split the gun on an internal culture clash between Altman and OpenAI Chief Scientist Sutskever, with Sutskever angry at Altman’s push to launch GPTs while Sutskever worries about the future when autonomous AI could become dangerous.
On Saturday, OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap send an internal memo said Altman had not been fired for misconduct. Under pressure from OpenAI employees and investors, the board invited Sam Altman to return to OpenAI HQ on Sunday as a guest to fight, but after two days, the talks broke down early Monday morning.
Through it all, the vast majority of OpenAI employees have remained loyal to Altman. Saturday morning saw hundreds of OpenAI workers heart emoji on X in unison with Altman, who tweeted“I love the openai team very much.” And on Monday morning, hundreds of workers start advertising the phrase “OpenAI is nothing without its people,” repeating themselves in unison.
However, there are serious questions about exactly why the commission acted as it did in firing Altman. We have yet to hear personally from Sutskever or the existing board directly explaining the exact thinking behind the move. And with Sutskever now regretting his actions and demanding the commission’s resignation (which technically includes him as well), the story has taken an even stranger turn.
In response to a tweet by All founder Dan Shipper expressing regret for OpenAI’s apparent departure from former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer wrote“I’m still sad – the crazy management model allowed this to happen. The fact that Ilya is now sad just shows how broken and clueless they are/are. They call them councilors because they should be decision.”
Emmett Shear steps into the storm; Nadella offers things out
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Overnight, a new figure entered the picture: Emmett Shear, who previously served as CEO of Twitch but has left that position to spend time with his new baby.
“Today I got a call inviting me to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to become the interim CEO of @OpenAI,” wrote Emmett Shear had a long post on Monday at 1:01 am Pacific time. “I took this job because I believe that OpenAI is one of the most important companies that exist today.”
Shear pledged to implement a three-point plan to raise OpenAI over the next 30 days that includes hiring an independent investigator to “dig into” the process that led to Altman’s firing, continuing to talk to stakeholders and sharing key transfer method, and reforming the OpenAI Management Team in light of recent departures.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also chose the X social media network as his place to announce important news at 11:53 pm Pacific time on Sunday, hearing supporting Shear as interim CEO and communicating future plans for Altman at Microsoft. Here is the text of his full statement:
“We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and confident in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announce at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI’s new leadership team and working with them. And we’re very excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, along with colleagues, will join Microsoft to lead the new team. advanced AI. to provide them with the tools they need for their success.”
Now, it seems that Microsoft may walk away with Altman, Brockman, and most of the OpenAI employees if the OpenAI board does not accept the employee demands, which means that the OpenAI board will have inadvertently corrected the implosion of the technology startup. the hottest machine. Bloomberg reporter Ashlee Vance wrote“I suspect there may not be enough cars in the US for the number of lawyers who will descend on San Francisco.”
This is part of a breaking news story that will be updated as details emerge.