Bas' Take on Tech: Why OpenAI wanted to get rid of Sam Altman
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🤖 Why OpenAI wanted to get rid of Sam Altman
There has been much speculation about the reasons for the failed coup. Now Helen Toner, a former board member of the ChatGPT company, provides some answers in the TED AI Show podcast.
Altman was unexpectedly replaced as CEO of OpenAI in November 2023. The CEO had not been honest with the board, it was said at the time without further explanation - which led to much speculation about the reasons.
One of the triggers for the leadership dispute was a paper co-authored by Helen Toner. “Sam started lying to other board members to force me off the board,” says Toner in the interview. However, she also says that the importance of the dispute over the paper was overstated in the media.
Communication between the CEO and the board had been poor for some time. According to Toner, they had not been informed about the surprise launch of the chatbot ChatGPT in December 2022, which the board learned about via Twitter.
The pressure that ultimately led to Altman's return came from the OpenAI staff. They threatened to migrate to Microsoft.
Toner accuses Altman of lying, manipulating and creating a “toxic atmosphere”. Some employees had acted out of fear of their boss. Employees had approached the board with reports of “psychological abuse”. She also cites Altman's dismissal at Y Combinator as an example.
Public criticism of this kind has so far been rare at OpenAI. However, the recent revelation of a rigorous confidentiality agreement has caused irritation. OpenAI now wants to amend this.
“We are disappointed that Ms. Toner continues to raise these issues,” said new CEO Bret Taylor in a response. An independent committee had already “comprehensively investigated” the events of November, and over 95% of employees had called for Altman's reinstatement as CEO and the resignation of the previous board.
Several high-ranking employees recently left OpenAI, including chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who quickly distanced himself from his involvement in the attempted coup.
In the interview, Toner again talks about the need for regulation of so-called artificial intelligence. There seems to have been disagreement at OpenAI in this area too.
AI researcher Jan Leike has already found a new employer following his departure from OpenAI. He will take over the management of a security team at competitor Anthropic, whose remit is very similar to that of OpenAI's disbanded technology impact team.
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