Five days after he was suddenly sacked, Sam Altman is going back to his old job as the boss of OpenAI, creator of the chatbot ChatGPT.
Out of all the emojis used in my work messages today, an exploding head wins so far.
Up till now, we don’t even have an idea why he was fired anyway. However, the management of Openai found one thing very disturbing they made an effort to eject him by using speed and discretion to ensure that people hardly knew about it.
In a statement they implied he had somehow not been honest with them: accusing him of not always saying the truth as it is in his messages.
However, with all these things at stake and the nomination of another two chief executive officers (CEO) within less than 24 hours afterward, an incredible outburst of support for Mr. Altman surfaced from among workers within the company — and has been very effective. All but one, every staff signed this letter saying they might resign if Mr Altman was not recalled. One of the signatories was chief scientist Ilya Setskov, who was part of the board that approved the initial action. Later, he tweeted to X (formerly, twitter) that he was sorry for having a hand in Mr. Altman’s exit.
The exploding head emojis have taken over my work chats this morning.
It is still unclear why he was dismissed in the first instance. However, OpenAI’s Board of Directors was so shocked by something that they took extreme measures to kick him out because they acted swiftly and secretly, sharing the information with a few people only.
In a statement they implied he had somehow not been honest with them: labelling him a liar who does not communicate consistently and candidly.
However, considering the gravity of everything above, and the appointment of two new CEOs in less than 24 hours one would imagine something opposite. However, there has been the most incredible outbreak of backing on the part of the same company for Mr Altman – and it is working out just fine. This is to say that all but one staff member signed a collective resignation letter and threatened to leave their jobs unless Mr Altman was not recalled. One of the signing boards was Chief Scientist Ilya Setskover, who is among the others. Thereafter, he published on X (formerly called Twitter) that he was sorry for causing the demise of Mr Altman.
OpenAI’s week was a rollercoaster of emotions, with the company’s future hanging in the balance. It all started when Mira Murati, the interim CEO, posted a message on X saying “OpenAI is nothing without its people.” This was followed by a flurry of similar messages from other employees, accompanied by a sea of coloured hearts. The whole thing had an eerie resemblance to last year’s big Silicon Valley meltdown when Twitter staff sent a coded message of saluting emojis after Elon Musk’s takeover.
Sam Altman, OpenAI’s co-founder, didn’t waste any time. By Monday, he had accepted a new job at Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest investor. This move fueled speculation that Microsoft was effectively taking over OpenAI without staging a formal takeover. In the space of just two days, Microsoft had hired Altman, OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, and hinted at taking on other OpenAI employees who wished to join them.
But in a surprising turn of events, Altman is back at OpenAI. This move is a testament to his power and influence, as he was able to walk back into the company despite having just accepted a job at its biggest investor. It’s also a sign of Microsoft’s commitment to OpenAI, as they were willing to let Altman return to the company without any strings attached.
Only time will tell what the future holds for OpenAI. But one thing is for sure: the company is in for an exciting ride.
What sense in this whole soap opera?
We might be talking about the creators of pioneering technology but there are two very human reasons why we should all care: money and power.
Let’s start with money. Last month, OpenAI was estimated to be worth $80n It seems like investment money keeps on coming in. However, its costs are also expensive. I was told that this involves a huge amount of calculating power and only a couple of pies each time somebody types in a question into the chatbot.
Last month, a researcher in the Netherlands said to me that even the super-rich Google cannot afford to provide queries on its search engine at the same rate as chatbot queries because the cost is beyond its limits.
Therefore, it does not come as a shock that OpenAI turned to money-generating endeavors to ensure its investors remain happy.
And with money comes power. Despite this popcorn-grabbing distraction, let’s not forget what OpenAI is doing: building a technology that would in turn shape its world. AI is progressing very fast becoming more mighty every day, which only increases its potential danger. Just recently, Mr. Altman stated that the next version of ChatGPT for 2023 will be outdated when compared to the new version from OpenAI scheduled to launch shortly. Moreover, it is known that the current version can already pass the bar exam which newly licensed lawyers must
Few people are driving this uncommon wave of disruption with Sam Altman being one of them. If it succeeds, then AI will be smarter and more efficient if all goes well; otherwise, there will be destruction. However, as these last five days have proven, innovation remains anchored on people’s power. Humans also can err. beginnetjeсыль: And so do the humans still have power of failing.
I’ll leave you with my favorite comment about the whole debacle: “People building [artificial general intelligence]unable to predict consequences of their actions three days in advance”, wrote quantum physics professor Andrzej Dragan on X.