It is largely over. The investigation into events has concluded, finding no wrongdoing anywhere. The board has added four new board members, including Sam Altman. There will still be further additions. Sam Altman now appears firmly back in control of OpenAI.
While reading this, I started a new ChatGPT4 conversation to begin the work of finding a base rate, or at least to check for a precedent. I kid you not, the result:
User
Has any CEO been fired by the board, brought back, and fired again at a US company in the 21st century?
ChatGPT
Yes, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, was fired by the board, brought back, and then fired again in the 21st century. This sequence of events occurred in a brief and highly publicized period, highlighting the tumultuous nature of leadership roles in fast-paced tech companies.
My Bing/Sydney conversations were fun, but this amused me on another level. Zvi, if you'd like to use the screenshot, just email me.
This board has to be a huge improvement over the previous one because the previous board was basically the worst board it’s possible to imagine. Getting Brockman and Altman off the board is obviously a win. However brilliant he is, Sutskever falling on his sword during the middle of the coup like Frank Pentangeli makes him a liability too.
I understand why you’d initially be upset at Toner, but I see absolutely nothing she accomplished during her tenure that you should regret losing out on.
Charitably, the reason the Board’s coup was so shambolic was that they were under pressure to act quickly because they briefly managed to peel Ilya away from the management bloc and (correctly) worried that his shifting allegiances were transitory. But this just underlines the fact that a board where the board has an outright majority from management is hopelessly powerless. The structural benefit of having a board that actually has leeway to act is a big improvement.
While reading this, I started a new ChatGPT4 conversation to begin the work of finding a base rate, or at least to check for a precedent. I kid you not, the result:
User
Has any CEO been fired by the board, brought back, and fired again at a US company in the 21st century?
ChatGPT
Yes, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, was fired by the board, brought back, and then fired again in the 21st century. This sequence of events occurred in a brief and highly publicized period, highlighting the tumultuous nature of leadership roles in fast-paced tech companies.
My Bing/Sydney conversations were fun, but this amused me on another level. Zvi, if you'd like to use the screenshot, just email me.
A multi-voiced AI reading of this article:
https://askwhocastsai.substack.com/p/openai-the-board-expands-by-zvi-mowshowitz?sd=pf
Strong Succession vibes…
This board has to be a huge improvement over the previous one because the previous board was basically the worst board it’s possible to imagine. Getting Brockman and Altman off the board is obviously a win. However brilliant he is, Sutskever falling on his sword during the middle of the coup like Frank Pentangeli makes him a liability too.
I understand why you’d initially be upset at Toner, but I see absolutely nothing she accomplished during her tenure that you should regret losing out on.
Charitably, the reason the Board’s coup was so shambolic was that they were under pressure to act quickly because they briefly managed to peel Ilya away from the management bloc and (correctly) worried that his shifting allegiances were transitory. But this just underlines the fact that a board where the board has an outright majority from management is hopelessly powerless. The structural benefit of having a board that actually has leeway to act is a big improvement.
WilmerHale asking employees to publicly speak badly about their CEO
Said the spider to the fly...
Honesty requires anonymity if you can be materially harmed by someone whose reputation you could damage
What do you think the NYTimes illustrator was trying to convey in the image of Altman? https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/31/technology/sam-altman-open-ai-chatgpt.html