newSam Altman and Elon Musk are hardly strangers. The CEOs of OpenAI and Tesla, respectively, have dined together and shared a stage. They worked together to launch OpenAI in 2015 to counter Google’s dominance in artificial intelligence. — Fortune, 10h ago
newOpenAI announced the official return of Sam Altman, less than two weeks after the board’s attempted coup. In a blog post, OpenAI explained the updates and included messages from Altman and Bret Taylor, who became board chair of OpenAI after last month’s shakeup. (Taylor was the former Salesforce co-CEO and former board chair of Twitter until it was sold to Elon Musk.)... — Digiday, 13h ago, Event
newIn a recent conversation between OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman and Box CEO and founder Aaron Levie at the BoxWorks user conference, the disruptive power of generative AI took center stage. The discussion revolved around the impact of AI, particularly ChatGPT, on various industries, the fears and hopes of CIOs, and the potential future of enterprise AI. — CDInsights, 17h ago, Event
newElon Musk expressed concern about the abrupt departure and swift return of Sam Altman, co-founder of OpenAI, during an interview at the DealBook Summit. Musk, who helped found OpenAI, shared his mixed feelings about Altman, referencing “The Lord of the Rings” and the corrupting influence of power. — Wonderful Engineering, 1d ago
newClearly, the OpenAI fiasco made it clear that you may not want to hitch your generative AI wagon to one model. Microsoft's investment in OpenAI gave the company a head start in generative AI and copilots, but that innovation bet almost backfired when OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was booted, hired by Microsoft and then reinstated at OpenAI. You'd be a fool if you were an OpenAI customer and not thinking about diversification. — Constellation Research Inc., 1d ago
newSadly, the Franco-German-Italian volte face has a simpler, more sordid, explanation: the power of the corporate lobbying that has been brought to bear on everyone in Brussels and European capitals generally. And in that context, isn’t it interesting to discover (courtesy of an investigation by Time that while Sam Altman (then and now again chief executive of OpenAI after being fired and rehired) had spent weeks touring the world burbling on about the need for global AI regulation, behind the scenes his company had lobbied for “significant elements of the EU’s AI act to be watered down in ways that would reduce the regulatory burden on the company”, and had even authored some text that found its way into a recent draft of the bill. — the Guardian, 1d ago
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newYet, the journey has not been without its challenges. Just like the tech industry’s ethos of “move fast and break things”, disruptions in some tech companies have unfolded swiftly. A case in point is OpenAI, a nonprofit research organisation that stands as the poster child of the AI revolution. The unprecedented removal and subsequent reinstatement of OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman sent shockwaves through the industry. — Australian Financial Review, 1d ago
newOpenAI in 2019 signed a nonbinding letter of intent with chip developer Rain AI to spend $51 million on the startup’s chips when they became available, according to a person familiar with the situation. The deal shows how OpenAI business was sometimes entwined with its co-founder and CEO Sam Altman’s personal investments. — The Information, 1d ago
newROBERT CHAPMAN-SMITH: Today on Big Think, we're gonna be talking with Karen Hao, a contributing writer for The Atlantic who focuses on technology and its impacts on society. In this interview, we're gonna be talking about artificial intelligence and specifically OpenAI and the events that led to the ouster and reinstatement of Sam Altman as CEO. Karen, thank you for joining us on Big Think today. — Big Think, 2d ago
Newswise — Kathleen Day, a Johns Hopkins Carey Business School lecturer in business communication and law & ethics, is available to speak with media members about the evolving leadership changes happening across the tech industry, including Sam Altman’s termination from OpenAI, his new role with Microsoft, and the possibility of his return to OpenAI. — newswise.com, 12d ago
The Internet has been abuzz with stories surrounding the future of OpenAI (the company that created ChatGPT), CEO Sam Altman’s future (as of this writing, he had been reinstated to the position), Microsoft’s hiring plans and related stories.But regardless of how those important questions get answered, it is important to understand just how big this generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) market has become as we head into 2024.The Verge recently highlighted the growth of ChatGPT: “In less than a year, it’s hit 100 million weekly users, and over 2 million developers are currently building on the company’s API, including the majority of Fortune 500 companies. …”... — GovTech, 8d ago
I'm encouraged by the pushback to AI, which feels a little bit new. At this stage, companies like OpenAI are coming to the public after a broader reckoning about Big Tech in society, which means on an interpersonal level, there was healthy skepticism. I was thrilled to see WGA and SAG-AFTRA raise AI as a crucial demand. That feels like a breakthrough, because unfortunately on the level of power and governance, it does feel like there's a lot of pressure to normalize AI. Sam Altman has charmed many powerful people, Republicans and Democrats alike. But artists, writers, and individuals understood the exploitation at play immediately. They looked past rhetoric of "this is fair use" and understood that for this technology to work, it means harnessing the life and labor of other people for nothing, and creating value out of that. I'm less concerned about copyrighted material, because powerful people have lawyers who can possibly fight that, and more concerned about our everyday lives being mined in this way. — Esquire, 20d ago
Addressing a joint session of the US Congress in June this year, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “In the past few years, there have been many advances in AI—Artificial Intelligence. At the same time, there have been even more momentous developments in another Al—America and India.” The statement went down so well with the audience that the American President Joe Biden gifted Modi a T-shirt with the text, The Future is AI—America and India. During his visit to the US, the Prime Minister also met the heads of leading tech companies at the Hi-Tech Handshake mega event. This included Google’s Sundar Pichai, Apple’s Tim Cook, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella. They discussed topics ranging from semiconductor manufacturing and space exploration to AI, and some of these tech giants committed to various degrees of investment in India. — Electronics For You, 7d ago
Reacting to the development, Sam Altman said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that he loved his time at OpenAI and will have more to say about what's next later. Here's how the tech world reacted to his exit from the company. — cnbctv18.com, 16d ago
newLast week, the AI world was thrown into upheaval with the shocking ouster of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. In the wake of the drama that unfolded, it seemed like the equilibrium of the tech industry might have been permanently thrown off course. However, this week things were pretty much back to normal. Altman, of course, has managed to clamber back up on his perch as top executive at the company (thanks to a helping hand from Microsoft), while things in Silicon Valley have continued apace in much the way they normally would have: a number of new AI products and platforms were rolled out, another study showed the less than ideal impact artificial intelligence has on the environment, and someone found a way to ruin memes with AI. — Gizmodo, 2d ago
newSam Altman created OpenAI (initially a non-profit foundation) in 2015, with the idea of developing AI that would be “safe and benefit humanity”, in the words of Elon Musk, one of the co-founders dismissed in 2019, in an interview with the New York Times. — Archyde, 2d ago, Event
newThe New Yorker on Friday published a long article with many new details on what it said happened on the OpenAI board that led to the firing of CEO Sam Altman — a fiasco that the outlet said was internally referred to at Microsoft as the "Turkey-Shoot Clusterfuck."... — Business Insider, 2d ago
newA few unexpected things keeping them busy could be a reference to Sam Altman’s firing, over 700 employees threatening to quit, reinstating its CEO and replacing the old board that fired Altman, and figuring out the future for its chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever. That’s a lot. Research this month from Adversa AI also showed that vulnerabilities in GPTs could jeopardize the security and intellectual property of developers. However, the major delay for the GPT Store pushes against a narrative from OpenAI that its leadership shakeup has not stalled progress. — Gizmodo, 2d ago
As OpenAI’s internal dealings have made public headlines, Sam Altman and his 700 plus employees are back to work, and under a governance structure that will advantage his ability to raise additional funding and expand his networks. But the days of drama at the company should also serve as a reminder that not all founders and funding resources are treated equally in the tech sector, and this is another glaring example of the seemingly comfortable bets that tech investors make on white men even during the most tumultuous times. — Tech Policy Press, 3d ago
In the surprise ouster and restoration of Sam Altman as chief executive officer at OpenAI, only one person, Adam D’Angelo, managed to play a role on each side of the drama. D’Angelo, a former Facebook executive and founder of the question-and-answer platform Quora, was one of four members of the board who fired Altman, and the sole surviving director named to a new board of the artificial-intelligence company that took over on Wednesday. — John Lothian News, 3d ago, Event
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The Internet has been abuzz with stories surrounding the future of OpenAI (the company that created ChatGPT), CEO Sam Altman’s future (as of this writing, he had been reinstated to the position), Microsoft’s hiring plans and related stories. — Security Boulevard, 8d ago
Coming back to AI which is more or less about ChatGPT today, a similar trend is visibly forming. Even OpenAI chief Sam Altman has publicly stated that “It’s wildly overhyped in the short-term.” For now, all fingers are crossed that AI and more particularly ChatGPT does not face the same fate as NFTs after being picked as the word of the year. — Analytics India Magazine, 22d ago
Though the full details of former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's widely publicized departure from his own company last week are still emerging, the fallout could be far-reaching, from Microsoft's tighter grip on this year's most talked-about technology to a potential shift in the way things are done at OpenAI. But in the world of AI, can you really "move fast and break things"?... — PCMAG, 13d ago
And in a tug of war inside the company on how the future of artificial general intelligence should look like, the board members of its non-profit parent company, OpenAI, fired CEO Sam Altman, only to rehire him five days later. — interestingengineering.com, 3d ago
Sam Altman’s departure that Friday was a sudden and shocking surprise that quickly evoked comparisons to Steve Jobs’ ousting from Apple. But OpenAI and even Microsoft are not like the fictional Tyrell Corporation of Blade Runner fame, and the AI industry was not ever going to come to a grinding halt over one man. — Fast Company, 3d ago
Only minutes after Sam Altman was fired by the board of OpenAI on the afternoon of November 17, Vinod Khosla got a call from a major OpenAI investor. “What is going on?” the person asked. In the ensuing days, puzzled calls and texts from various principals continued streaming in. But even Khosla, one of OpenAI’s earliest investors and a man renowned for his powers of prescience, couldn’t predict what would happen. “I just frankly don’t think anybody knows,” he told me when we spoke on day three of the fracas. — The Information, 3d ago
Just about every day there’s a new headline about artificial intelligence. OpenAI Founder and CEO Sam Altman was forced out, and then dramatically returned to his post—all in the span of a week. Then there’s the recent speculation about a revolutionary new model from the company, called Q*, which can solve basic math problems. — Science Friday, 3d ago
Stability AI’s internal turbulence coincides with the recent upheaval at OpenAI, the US startup behind the advanced chatbot ChatGPT. OpenAI faced a tumultuous period, resulting in the reinstatement of ousted CEO Sam Altman. While the circumstances of each case may differ, the parallel timing of these events underscores the dynamic nature of the AI industry and the challenges faced by companies operating in this rapidly evolving space. — CoinGenius, 3d ago
Despite these warnings, Schmidt also acknowledged the positive potential of AI. He highlighted the benefits AI could bring in fields like healthcare and education, a sentiment shared by Gates who has praised AI’s recent advancements. He also praised Sam Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, who was briefly ousted after senior researchers at the company warned its board of directors of a breakthrough that could threaten humanity. Despite this praise, Schmidt’s overall tone remains cautious, with Schmidt previously stating that AI could cause harm or even death, posing existential risks. — sgtreport.com, 3d ago
Robinson Meyer, a journalist who covers climate change, energy policy and environmental politics, has written an important article on nonprofit governance that is well worth your attention. Written in response to the hullabaloo that erupted after the Board of Directors at OpenAI fired its chief executive, Sam Altman, the piece examines the unique ways that many of today’s nonprofit organizations function. — Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs, 5d ago
OpenAI fired CEO Sam Altman, then spent the weekend trying to figure out how to bring him back after pressure from executives and investors. In the end, Microsoft hired Altman to lead a “new advanced research team,” the Financial Times reported. You will see the various related stories in the Fintech section. The Financial Times reports on the weekend’s events in a story titled ‘I’ve never seen anything like this’: how OpenAI’s dramatic weekend unfolded.’... — John Lothian News, 14d ago
In conclusion, the tale of Sam Altman's journey from OpenAI to Microsoft reads less like a tech saga and more like a Silicon Valley soap opera, complete with dramatic exits, strategic coups, and AI ethics debates that would make even a robot scratch its head in confusion. As we marvel at Microsoft's chess-like move in the AI game, let's not forget the underlying narrative: in a world where artificial intelligence is advancing faster than a speeding bullet train, the only predictable element is unpredictability itself. So, as we buckle up for this wild ride in the AI wonderland, let's keep one eye on the ethical compass and the other on our AI overlords — just in case they decide to write the next chapter of this saga themselves. — cnbctv18.com, 14d ago
Sam Altman, a prominent figure in the tech world, has experienced a significant rise in reputation despite his recent termination from OpenAI. Known as a "generational talent" and a skilled fundraiser, Altman's career has been marked by both successes and controversies. His involvement in various tech ventures, including discussions about founding a chip foundry to compete with NVIDIA and backing from investors in the Middle East and China, further highlight his dynamic presence in the industry. — Coinpaper, 13d ago
The news of Sam Altman’s sudden firing from OpenAI (and his move to Microsoft Corp., MSFT-Q a major backer to the organization) caught much of the tech world by surprise. But, on closer inspection, the roots of this fissure were always visible. — The Globe and Mail, 13d ago
The potential benefits and pitfalls of generative artificial intelligence technology. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and new tension in the Middle East. Increasing scrutiny of cybersecurity leaders and their decisions. Ransomware attacks targeting casino resorts. These are some headlines that made news in the cybersecurity community throughout 2023. While a significant portion of news coverage over the last 12 months has focused on generative A.I., including the recent upheaval at OpenAI involving its co-founder Sam Altman, sophisticated cyber attacks continue to damage networks and expose user data. — John Lothian News, 6d ago, Event
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May: OpenAI cofounder and CEO Sam Altman made his debut in Congress during the U.S. Senate’s first AI hearing, where he answered a range of question from lawmakers about the risks of AI and what he thinks about government regulation. Two days later, ChatGPT’s new iOS app debuted in Apple’s App Store, which offered a number of new features including early access to OpenAI’s GPT-4 for ChatGPT Plus subscribers. It also announced a new partnership with Nextdoor. — Digiday, 3d ago, Event
For those who spent last week figuring out what to put on your holiday table and missed every AI headline, here’s a brief version of what happened. OpenAI – the huge startup and creator of ChatGPT – went through dramatic events. Its board fired the mercurial CEO Sam Altman. Then, the 38-year-old entrepreneur accepted a job at Microsoft but returned to OpenAI a day later. — Content Marketing Institute, 3d ago
In a surprising turn of events, Sam Altman, the briefly ousted and quickly reinstated CEO of OpenAI, has expressed a sense of relief and satisfaction about his temporary departure from the company. Altman, who was fired on November 17, has shared his unconventional perspective on the matter in a recent interview with The Verge’s Alex Heath. Contrary to the typical response one might expect from someone in Altman’s position, he admitted that the experience of being away from OpenAI was enlightening. “I learned that the company can truly function without me, and that’s a very nice thing,” Altman stated in the phone call with Heath. — Wonderful Engineering, 3d ago
It’s been one year of changing the world! Yesterday, ChatGPT celebrated its first birthday. Since its creation, generative AI has rapidly emerged as a dominant solution category in the AI arms race. In November 2023, the co-founder of OpenAI, Sam Altman, stated that the tool had reached 100 million weekly active users. — Customer Experience Magazine, 3d ago
Ever wondered why it’s called ChatGPT and not something more human like Siri, Alexa or even Bard? The co-founder of OpenAI, Sam Altman, aims to avoid blurring the lines between human-to-human relationships and interactions with AI. — analyticsindiamag.com, 3d ago
OpenAI went through some major changes this month. Over the course of just a couple days, Sam Altman was fired by the board, was hired at Microsoft along with OpenAI president Greg Brockman, and then finally reinstated as CEO at OpenAI, along with Brockman. When he returned, it was announced that most of the board of OpenAI who had voted him out was being replaced too. While all of this was happening, about two thirds of the company had also signed a letter threatening to quit if Altman wasn’t brought back and the board replaced. — SD Times, 3d ago
Asked about the recent firing and re-hiring of Sam Altman from OpenAI, Delvy pointed out that the entire incident “highlights the importance of ethical leadership in the AI sector. As AI continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, it is crucial for industry leaders to embrace transparency, accountability and a commitment to responsible innovation.”... — thestarphoenix, 3d ago
All of this makes you wonder why anyone on OpenAI’s board was surprised by the worker rebellion. Sam Altman is the public face of OpenAI and the cultural standard-bearer of the company. With just over 700 employees, it wasn’t like he was some faceless, unapproachable CEO that no one would miss. — reworked.co, 3d ago
There’s much speculation about the reasons for the abrupt removal and subsequent return of Sam Altman as the CEO of OpenAI. Irrespective of who leads the company going forward, OpenAI faces a fundamental challenge in reconciling its mission with its choice of corporate structure and business model. To solve it, we can learn from the history of tech innovations. — The Information, 4d ago
Microsoft will have a role on OpenAI’s new board as the artificial intelligence start-up aims to strengthen its corporate governance following a week of chaos in which five out of six of its directors, including chief executive Sam Altman, were ousted or quit. The new board will include Microsoft as a non-voting observer, alongside “individuals whose collective experience represents the breadth of OpenAI’s mission – from technology to safety to policy,” the start-up said on Wednesday. — John Lothian News, 4d ago, Event
A venture arm of the petroleum giant Saudi Aramco, Prosperity7, has sold its shares in a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence chip startup due to pressure from the Biden Administration, according to Bloomberg. The startup, Rain AI, builds chips modeled on the human brain. It is backed by OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, startup accelerator Y Combinator, and Daniel Gross, an investor and... — The Information, 4d ago
The comments landed after the recent furor in which ChatGPT creator OpenAI fired and then re-hired chief executive Sam Altman within a matter of days. A full picture has not yet emerged as to why the top-level discord surfaced and what it all means for the future of artificial intelligence. — ReadWrite, 4d ago, Event
Founded in 2015 as a non-profit research lab for artificial intelligence, OpenAI was co-founded by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and others. OpenAI has since evolved and now consists of the profit-driven entity OpenAI LP and its parent organisation, the non-profit OpenAI Inc. The company is dedicated to conducting long-term research with the aim of developing safe artificial general intelligence (AGI). — aimagazine.com, 4d ago
Ilya Sutskever, the chief scientist at OpenAI, will no longer be part of the board, announced Sam Altman, in the latest OpenAI blog, upon his return as the CEO of OpenAI. — Analytics India Magazine, 4d ago
A measured concern permeates the global AI community as a speculative debate ensues regarding potential quid pro quo favor trading between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. These alleged activities, traced back to 2019, have prompted thoughtful discussions within the community, raising considerations about a potential breach of fiduciary duties to their respective companies. — pressat.co.uk, 4d ago
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Speaking on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the leadership shakeup at the ChatGPT developer, Musk said he has “mixed feelings” about Altman, adding he doesn’t know why Altman was ousted from the company and is concerned that OpenAI discovered a dangerous element of AI. Musk said he agreed to speak at the summit because he was a longtime friend of its host, Andrew Ross Sorkin, whom Musk misnamed during the interview. — BitcoinEthereumNews.com, 4d ago
Sam Altman has returned as CEO of OpenAI, following his unexpected departure earlier this month. Interim CEO Mira Murati will step down and return to her previous role as CTO. Altman confirmed the new board, chaired by Salesforce CEO Bret Taylor, which includes Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo. Microsoft will also become a non-voting observer on the board. Altman said his priorities as CEO would be advancing research, improving products, and better serving customers. The board will enhance governance and review recent events with an independent committee. — BitcoinEthereumNews.com, 4d ago
Microsoft has secured a board seat at OpenAI as a non-voting observer, as announced by Sam Altman in the company’s blog post upon his return as CEO. OpenAI, in its blog post, further revealed the return of Greg Brockman as president, with Bret Taylor assuming the role of board chair and Mira Murati returning back to the position of CTO. — Analytics India Magazine, 4d ago
Sam Altman’s return to OpenAI and his impact on recruitment strategies in the tech world, particularly in Web3 and crypto, is a testament to the changing dynamics of the job market. As AI becomes more integrated into hiring practices, companies and candidates alike must adapt to this new era of talent acquisition. Altman’s vision offers a glimpse into a future where AI not only transforms the way we work but also how we find and nurture the talent driving these industries forward. — CoinGenius, 10d ago
...• Sam Altman, 38, hails from St. Louis, Missouri• Demonstrated an early interest in technology by learning programming and disassembling a Macintosh computer at the age of 8• Attended Stanford University. Opted to drop out after one year in 2005• Played a pivotal role in the success of OpenAI• Previously served as the president of Y Combinator, a noted Silicon Valley startup accelerator• Notable launches from Y Combinator include Airbnb, Dropbox, Reddit, Stripe• A geek, Atman is known to possess social and strategic intelligence• Became a billionaire before joining OpenAI as one of its founders in 2015, brought on by Elon Musk... — gulfnews.com, 13d ago
Apple lost its founder, 30-year-old Steve Jobs, in 1985, a famous moment in tech and business history, as the maker of the Macintosh parted ways with the face of personal computing, over a decade before their fateful reunion, the iPod, the iPhone, the $1 trillion valuation and all that. Now AI has its own “Steve Jobs: Act One” moment, as Sam Altman, the 38-year-old face of the AI boom, has been fired by OpenAI’s board for the unexplained sin of being “not consistently candid in his communications.” Act Two is sure to follow, but, just like Jobs’ expulsion from the company he cofounded nearly four decades ago, the exact reasons for the firing are still shrouded in mystery. — fortune.com, 14d ago
Last week, the story of Sam Altman leaving OpenAI dominated the U.S. headlines, in part because it was just all so dramatic: A young genius who checks all the Silicon Valley boxes (white guy / prepper / dropped out of Stanford / extremely confident he is changing the world for the better,) who is also widely recognized as the most important person in AI, was unceremoniously pushed out of the AI company he ran, leading to a staff revolt against the board that pushed him out, a soft landing at Microsoft, and then, within days, reinstatement into his old position and a quick reshuffling of the board in which all the women were removed and replaced with men, including Larry “men are better at math than women” Summers. Spicy!... — Ms. Magazine, 5d ago
Lots has happened this past week in the tech world! With Sam Altman returning to OpenAI following his dismissal, U.S. lawmakers pushing for the investigation of Elon Musk, Biden proposing a ban on cable and satellite service early termination fees, and more, there’s much to catch up on. So, let’s get started!... — Innovation & Tech Today, 11d ago
Competent leaders often play musical chairs with different C-Suite positions in the wealth management and technology sectors—we’ve recently seen that phenomenon play out in bold type with the firing of Sam Altman from ChatGPT producer OpenAI, and his subsequent hiring to help lead artificial intelligence development at Microsoft. — Dwealth.news, 14d ago
The now-he’s-in, now-he’s-out drama of the past couple of weeks at OpenAI, arguably the world’s leading artificial intelligence company, feels almost like an episode of the satirical TV show Silicon Valley. To recap: on November 17, Sam Altman, the widely admired CEO and public face of OpenAI, was suddenly removed in a surprise coup by the company’s board, which suggested, in a statement accompanying Altman’s ouster, that he had been “less than candid” with them (without saying what this lack of candor involved). A few days later, Microsoft, one of OpenAI’s largest investors, announced that Altman and Greg Brockman—the former president of OpenAI, who quit when Altman was fired—were joining the company to run a new AI research unit. Meanwhile, OpenAI employees started circulating a letter in which they threatened to quit unless Altman was given his job back; within three days, it had more than seven hundred signatures. Days after he was fired, Altman was reinstated, and the three board members who ousted him—as well as an interim CEO who had replaced him for less than seventy-two hours—were gone. — Columbia Journalism Review, 4d ago
A year after the release of ChatGPT, OpenAI endured a roller-coaster ride of senior management turmoil, with the firing of CEO Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, threatened walkouts and open offers from Microsoft to hire the entire team, and the subsequent re-hiring of Altman, Brockman and new board members. Although the software did not report any significant downtime, the rapid series of events almost felt like some kind of outage. — ACEDS, 4d ago
On OpenAI and its recent boardroom struggles, Musk said he had talked to a lot of people but had not found out what precisely led to the recent firing and then re-hiring of CEO Sam Altman. He also said he has “mixed feelings” about Altman personally, hinting that he feels like the OpenAI CEO has too much power. “The ring of power can corrupt.”... — NBC News, 4d ago
Its impact was on full display earlier this month after the shock dismissal of Sam Altman. Tech CEOs come and go, but OpenAI had become a big enough player for Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to get involved and for OpenAI employees to threaten mass resignations unless Altman returned. He was quickly reinstated. — PCMAG, 4d ago
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, a well-known figure in technology circles, but still little known beyond that, with the release of ChatGPT made sure that this unheralded AI tech would get the attention it deserves. — techxplore.com, 4d ago
If the recent tussle over the firing and re-hiring of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has taught us anything, it’s that there will always be an inherent tension between what AI promises – its inherent value – and the risks of a technology potentially “too disruptive for its own good”. Over the next year we can expect more OpenAI style fall-outs involving native AI companies, regulators, governments and other stakeholders as society grapples with the implications of what is essentially a live experiment. Companies engaging at any level with generative AI should expect and even encourage debate around how this dichotomy can be handled. — Compare the Cloud, 5d ago
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Armstrong’s critique extends beyond the crypto space, as he asserts that EA’s influence has now permeated the realm of artificial intelligence. In a bold recommendation, he suggests that every talented employee at OpenAI, the renowned artificial intelligence research lab, should consider leaving their current positions and join a potential new venture led by industry figures Sam Altman and Greg. — BitcoinEthereumNews.com, 15d ago
Dr Joanne Gray is a lecturer in Digital Cultures in the Discipline of Media and Communications in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. This story was first published in The Conversation as OpenAI’s board is facing backlash for firing CEO Sam Altman – but it’s good it had the power to. Photo: Shutterstock... — The University of Sydney, 12d ago
But the next generation of AI agents is starting to take shape. Some of the outlines emerged from the recent leadership shake-up at OpenAI. At the time, the board gave only a vague reason for firing CEO Sam Altman, citing a lack of transparency with board members. (Altman was soon reinstated after employees revolted.) Some (me) thought there must be another issue in the background causing such dramatic action by the board—like a scary research breakthrough. Turns out that’s exactly what it was. OpenAI has reportedly been working on a new kind of agent, known internally as “Q*” (“Q-star”), which marks a major step toward OpenAI’s goal of making systems that are generally better than humans at doing a wide variety of tasks (aka, artificial general intelligence, or AGI). The board reportedly feared that Altman might charge ahead with productizing Q* without allowing enough time for adequate safety guardrails to put around it. — Fast Company, 4d ago
Sam Altman’s pursuit of building a chip rival with a $100 billion investment underscores the strategic importance and immense challenges of the AI chip market. While the endeavor promises to reshape OpenAI’s technological landscape, it also highlights the formidable moats that Nvidia and TSMC have built over the years. — CoinGenius, 5d ago
Sam Altman wants everyone to build GPTs. “Eventually, you’ll just ask the computer for what you need and it’ll do all of these tasks for you,” said Sam Altman during his DevDay keynote, referring to his vision for the future of computing, one that revolves around GPTs. However, OpenAI’s customizable chatbots appear to have some vulnerabilities that could make people weary about building GPTs altogether. — Gizmodo, 5d ago
In Las Vegas, Selipsky criticized Microsoft’s reliance on OpenAI, saying businesses need to have a choice of models and model providers, and that the risks of a single-provider approach have been made clear by “the events of the past 10 days,” an apparent reference to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s temporary ouster from the company. — Data Center Knowledge | News and analysis for the data center industry, 5d ago, Event
Much has been written already about the recent OpenAI roller coaster—in which the board tried, and ultimately failed, to oust cofounder and CEO Sam Altman. This was no doubt a moment in tech leadership that will go down in history, and it’s already drawn many comparisons to Steve Jobs’s ouster from Apple in 1985. — Fast Company, 5d ago
Sam Altman’s brief departure and subsequent reinstatement as CEO of OpenAI have sparked significant discussion in the tech community, particularly due to its connection with developing a new AI system named Q*. — Zephyrnet, 5d ago
In an astonishing sequence of events, the tech world witnessed a dramatic exit of Sam Altman from OpenAI, a company he co-founded and led for eight years. With the worst of the chaos seemingly settled, we provide a timeline of the events and examine their potential impact on the ongoing development of generative AI. — The European Business Review, 13d ago
Sam Altman has been a reassuring figure to anyone worried about the future of artificial intelligence. As the head of OpenAI, which started out as a non-profit organisation that aimed to ensure AI was used for the good of humanity, he has toured the world, speaking to world leaders about this new frontier of technology. — the Guardian, 10d ago
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Whatever transpires, OpenAI led by Altman, has irrevocably changed the technology landscape over the last few months. And no matter the reasons for Altman’s departure – which may or may not become public knowledge – the more pertinent question is surely what will Sam Altman do next?... — Verdict, 15d ago
The upheaval at industry highflyer OpenAI started last Friday (Nov. 17, 2023) when the company’s board of directors fired CEO and co-founder Sam Altman and appointed Mira Murati, the CTO, as acting CEO. Following this event that caught the industry by surprise, employees and investors advocated for Altman’s reinstatement. However, the board approached Nat Friedman, a former GitHub executive, to take over the CEO position, however he declined the offer. Shortly thereafter, Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, agreed to take on the role. Early on Monday, before the opening of the stock market, Microsoft announced the hiring of Altman and several other individuals to spearhead a new venture dedicated to AI technology. This was NOT the end of the drama!... — insideBIGDATA, 12d ago
AI guru of the moment Sam Altman, creator of Chat GPT at OpenAI before his shock dismissal this week, is an investor of a number of Silicon start-ups developing drones. And with increased U.S. police activity using drones, it led The Economist to report on what relationships the traditionally surveillant American state could revive in the Silicon Valley to bring about techy drones probing citizens and troublemakers. — Identity Week - Identity and Trust for Government, Enterprise, and Partners, 13d ago
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When OpenAI board members ousted Sam Altman, his investors, employees, customers, and technology partners stood with him, demanding his return to the company. — Analytics India Magazine, 5d ago
Even Sam Altman, the recently reinstated CEO of OpenAI, acknowledges that biases are built directly into the ChatGPT model. We can’t expect that the outputs generative AI provides us are neutral or objective; thus, we can’t reliably use these outputs as foundations for meaningful discussion. — thecrimson.com, 5d ago
Tech visionaries such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott, and even former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joined more then 33,000 signatories of an open letter warning of societal-scale risks from genAI. While the letter had little impact on AI’s march, it spurred government initiatives to rein in the technology (like the current movement on the EU AI Act). — Mitratech, 5d ago
A year of huge success at OpenAI culminated earlier this month with the firing of OpenAI’s co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, followed five days later by his reinstatement and the resignation of most of the board members who had originally pushed to oust him. The episode has raised some thorny questions about the company’s mission and also about the future of the AI industry as a whole. — The Drum, 5d ago, Event
In the recent OpenAI leadership fight, the EAs seemingly took the role of techno-pessimists, trying to slow the spread of AI tools, while the “e/acc” faction backed Sam Altman’s focus on growth. But Buterin sees both sides as having “far too many plans to save the world that involve giving a small group of people extreme and opaque power and hoping that they use it wisely.” As I’ve written elsewhere, the two factions are branches of the same underlying Silicon Valley ideology, and both have deep conceptual flaws that ultimately sum out to authoritarianism. — CoinGenius, 6d ago
Noticing: Easter eggs in tech news Over the weekend, as the OpenAI board ousted CEO Sam Altman, company insiders’ tweets were dissected like a techie talmud. When Altman tweeted “I love you all,” many theorized that Altman had spelled out the acronym “ILYA”—pointing the finger at OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever for orchestrating the coup. As OpenAI employees tweeted different colored heart emojis, some saw diverging loyalties hidden in the hues. (In the end, the hearts likely meant nothing, but the ILYA conspiracy theory might have had merit.) Easter eggs infiltrated crypto this week too: When former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao posted pictures of himself raising four fingers, extremely-online sleuths speculated that it was a reference to a $4 billion settlement sought by the Department of Justice. It probably wasn’t, but all these real and imagined dog-whistles show how desperate we’ve become for reliable information in a trust-less environment. Perhaps we should all learn a lesson from Taylor Swift fans, who read too far into social media posts and, as a result, spread straight-up lies. —Margaux... — The Information, 6d ago, Event
The generative AI tool has also been very good for OpenAI (setting aside the recent drama with Sam Altman, who’s now back at the company’s helm after his board unexpectedly fired him in mid-November). The well-financed startup is seeking an $80 billion valuation and has one of the most visited domains in the world. — AdExchanger, 5d ago
Discussing Amazon’s Bedrock service, which provides access to a wide range of large language models, Selipsky contrasted the approach with Microsoft’s tight partnership with OpenAI, without mentioning the companies by name, alluding to the recent turmoil at the AI powerhouse involving the ouster and return of its CEO Sam Altman. — GeekWire, 5d ago, Event
This might not be at the top of Sam Altman’s priority list now that he’s back at OpenAI, but the CEO may soon have to deal with a looming threat to the business. Customers, such as fintech startup Ramp, are using OpenAI models like GPT-4 to customize cheaper-to-run open-source alternatives. — The Information, 6d ago
The bottom line is that the breakthrough enabled senior OpenAI researchers to build a model dubbed Q* (pronounced “Q-Star”) that could solve math problems it hadn’t seen before, a difficult task for existing AI models. That’s a big deal, for sure. But Gary Marcus, a NYU professor of psychology and neural science and founder who spoke alongside Sam Altman during the May Senate hearing on AI regulation, argued we shouldn’t get too worked up about it. — The Information, 6d ago
Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Paris Hilton’s entertainment company pulled an ad campaign on X, Flo from Progressive celebrates a decade and a half on the air, and Fortune senior writer Alicia Adamczyk writes about OpenAI’s new board of directors. Have a great Monday!– Seat at the table. When the OpenAI chaos finally quieted down last week, the media was quick to name winners. Sam Altman—the OpenAI cofounder and CEO who was fired by OpenAI’s board, then hired by Microsoft, then reinstated as OpenAI CEO—certainly came out on top. So did Microsoft, the biggest investor in the ChatGPT-developer, which ended the week with deeper ties to Altman and his posse of devoted employees. Capitalists too were triumphant; the board reshuffle that led to Altman’s return expelled members who approached AI cautiously in favor of those who appear more eager to commercialize its power. — Fortune, 6d ago
The sudden departure of Altman didn’t just catch OpenAI’s employees off guard, but it shocked big investors, like Microsoft, too. The media reports indicate that investors were not given prior notice or an opportunity to express their views on the decision made by the board to replace Sam Altman who has been a prominent figure in the generative AI revolution. — MarTech Series, 6d ago, Event
Microsoft seems to be the most clear-eyed about the interests it must protect: Microsoft’s! By hiring Sam Altman and Greg Brockman (a co-founder and president of OpenAI who resigned from OpenAI in solidarity with Altman), offering to hire more OpenAI staff, and still planning to collaborate with OpenAI, Satya Nadella hedged his bets. He seems to understand that by harnessing both the technological promise of AI, as articulated by OpenAI, and the talent to fulfill that promise, he is protecting Microsoft’s interest, a perspective reinforced by the financial markets’ positive response to his decision to offer Altman a job and further reinforced by his own willingness to support Altman’s return to OpenAI. Nadella acted with the interests of his company and its future at the forefront of his decision-making and he appears to have covered all the bases amidst a rapidly unfolding set of circumstances. — Fortune, 6d ago
With the recent release of the Humane Ai Pin, started by former Apple engineers Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, and backed by Sam Altman, has been working closely with OpenAI to bring ambient computing to life. Many believe that it could reduce the reliance on smartphone usage, paving the way for next-gen computing. — Analytics India Magazine, 6d ago
The ethos of Y Combinator permeates my perspective, so it’s not just Paul but also luminaries like Sam Altman, including prior to his tenure at OpenAI, who have influenced my thinking on running innovative ventures. — AI Time Journal - Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Work and Business, 6d ago
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The business world is simmering down from the chaos around Sam Altman’s tenure at OpenAI and the criticism of Elon Musk’s antisemitic comment on his platform X. Both situations are as different as circumstances can be, yet both reflect how a CEO’s presence influences brand resonance — the messaging that connects brands to customer experiences on a deeper, more emotional level. — CMSWire.com, 6d ago
Clinical Professor Karen Brenner and Professor Vasant Dhar interviews: “OpenAI’s ‘Unusual’ Board Could Fire CEO Sam Altman Without Asking Permission From Anyone—Like Its Deep-Pocketed Investor Microsoft.”... — nyu.edu, 6d ago, Event
Top honchos of OpenAI, that is developing Q*, including CEO Sam Altman, stand divided on Q*’s implications. While Altman sees AGI as an innovation catalyst, ethical concerns from researchers have prompted an internal upheaval at OpenAI. After Altman’s recent shock exit and subsequent reappointment, the power struggle within the firm has been laid bare. — gulfnews.com, 6d ago
Details of exactly what brought about Altman’s dismal are scarce. Axios reported Saturday Altman’s firing was not the result of “malfeasance or anything related to our financial, business, safety, or security/privacy practices” but rather a “breakdown in communications between Sam Altman and the board,” per an OpenAI internal memo. — Zephyrnet, 14d ago
Sam Altman, a co-founder of OpenAI, has been instrumental in shaping the organization’s trajectory since its inception. Under his leadership, OpenAI has made significant strides in the field of artificial intelligence, contributing to advancements in machine learning and deep learning. His departure marks the end of an era for the company, leaving a void that will be challenging to fill. — Zephyrnet, 16d ago
Microsoft was already a driving force behind efforts to deploy generative AI in health care. But its hiring of Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, formerly top executives at OpenAI, gives the company even more power over the technology’s development, testing, and use in the care of patients. — STAT, 12d ago
Attendees took part in a slew of special presentations, ranging from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s discussion on the transformative power of artificial intelligence to Royal Bank of Canada CEO Dave McKay’s discussion about the challenges they face in tackling in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Other discussions dealt with advising businesses on the ever-expanding range of looming cyber threats and how Canada can emerge as a leader in the clean tech revolution. — Waterloo News, 24d ago
CLARK: It really depends on who you ask. But there are, of course, people who are very afraid of a doomsday future in which, you know, AI is capable of doing terrifying things. And OpenAI, when it started in 2015 as a nonprofit, had a goal of developing artificial intelligence as safely as possible. It seems that the board thought that Sam Altman's decisions were focused too much on moving fast and making money. Long before this happened, there were disagreements within the company about whether they were developing that AI safely enough. — NPR, 13d ago
In summary, generative AI holds great promise in enhancing the human experience across various industries, but its implementation must be guided by ethical practices and governance frameworks. As we've seen in these examples, issues of privacy, transparency, accuracy and fairness must be carefully addressed. Failure to establish these ethical boundaries can result in potential harm to customers, from privacy breaches to misinformation. See this link for some useful thoughts on how we can manage risks and preserve trust with generative AI. Businesses that wish to leverage generative AI for better human experiences must not only invest in the technology but also in ethical practices and governance — start today! We’re already "too late" as Sam Altman, formerly of OpenAI and now at Microsoft, implies in his pleas to governments and regulators to lean in and take charge of what’s certain to be the most transformative invention human-kind has seen. — CMSWire.com, 14d ago
While he has expressed concerns about some of AI’s implications in the past, OpenAI’s Sam Altman is generally considered a boomer; the OpenAI board members who originally ousted him (and who now have left the board) were more skeptical. The return of Altman was seen as a victory for the boomers. But the debate is far from over, and the episode may highlight the need to think again about the pell-mell race to expand AI’s use and capabilities. — The Financial Brand, 6d ago
In Las Vegas, Selipsky criticized Microsoft’s reliance on OpenAI, saying businesses need to have a choice of models and model providers, and that the risks of a single-provider approach have been made clear by “the events of the past 10 days,” an apparent reference to OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman’s temporary ouster from the company. — calgaryherald, 6d ago, Event
Given the recent discussions over OpenAI, do not be surprised to find the existential threat of AI—if not Sam Altman himself—turning up on the agenda for the World Economic Forum in Davos from January 15–19, 2024. — Verdict, 7d ago
The turmoil at ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, bookended by the board of directors firing high-profile CEO Sam Altman on Nov. 17, 2023, and rehiring him just four days later, has put a spotlight on artificial intelligence safety and concerns about the rapid development of artificial general intelligence, or AGI. AGI is loosely defined as human-level intelligence across a range of tasks. The OpenAI board stated that Altman’s termination was for lack of candor, but speculation has centered on a rift between Altman and members of the board over concerns that OpenAI’s remarkable growth – products such as ChatGPT and Dall-E have acquired hundreds of millions of users worldwide – has hindered the company’s ability to focus on catastrophic risks posed by AGI. OpenAI’s goal of developing AGI has become entwined with the idea of AI acquiring superintelligent capabilities and the need to safeguard against the technology being misused or going rogue. But for now, AGI and its attendant risks are speculative. Task-specific forms of AI, meanwhile, are very real, have become widespread and often fly under the radar. — GovTech, 7d ago
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, a visionary in the world of blockchain technology, has always been at the forefront of pushing the boundaries of what is possible. In line with this spirit of innovation, Hoskinson made an open call to Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, proposing a potential collaboration. This collaboration, if materialized, could potentially lead to the development of a Cardano partner chain, further expanding the ecosystem's capabilities and reach. — Coinpaper, 7d ago
Concerned that the business arm of OpenAI was pushing too hard, too fast with commercialising its ChatGPT and GPT LLM, the not-for-profit board of OpenAI sacked chief executive Sam Altman, only to reverse itself under pressure from investors such as Microsoft, which has been embedding LLM in all its products. — Australian Financial Review, 7d ago
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A lot has been happening at OpenAI, and in the AI world. Just a while back Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and others have joined Microsoft (and more to join soon), while the co-founder of Twitch, Emmett Shear, has been made the interim CEO of the hottest AI startup in the tech world, replacing Mira Murati. — Analytics India Magazine, 13d ago
Cryptocurrency project Worldcoin, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, seeks to address the imminent challenges posed by artificial intelligence by championing Universal Basic Income. Central to its mission is the advocacy for Universal Basic Income (UBI), and the project introduces an innovative method for individuals to affirm their humanity—an iris scan facilitated by the cutting-edge Orb biometric device. This novel approach reflects a paradigm shift in addressing the intersection of technology and societal well-being. — BitcoinEthereumNews.com, 9d ago
Sam Altman, 38, reacted on the X network (formerly Twitter): “I enjoyed my time at OpenAI. It was transformative for me on a personal level but also, hopefully, for the world.. — Archyde, 16d ago