by navjack27
7 subcomments
- Okay hear me out. Restructuring for profit right? There will probably be companies spawned off of all of these leaving.
If the government ever wants a third party to oversee safety of openAI wouldn't it be convenient if one of those that left the company started a company that focused on safety. Safe Superintelligence Inc. gets the bid because lobbying because whatever I don't even care what the reason is in this made up scenario in my head.
Basically what I'm saying is what if Sam is all like "hey guys, you know it's inevitable that we're going to be regulated, I'm going for profit for this company now, you guys leave and later on down the line we will meet again in an incestuous company relationship where we regulate ourselves and we all profit."
Obviously this is bad. But also obviously this is exactly exactly what has happened in the past with other industries.
Edit:
The man is all about the long con anyway. - https://old.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3cs78i/whats_the...
Another edit: I'll go one further on this a lot of the people that are leaving are going to double down on saying that open AI isn't focused on safety to build up the public perception and therefore the governmental perception that regulation is needed so there's going to be a whole thing going on here. Maybe it won't just be safety and it might be other aspects also because not all the companies can be focused on safety.
by bansheeps
3 subcomments
- Update: Looks like Barret Zoph, GPT-4's post training (co-)lead is also leaving: https://x.com/barret_zoph/status/1839095143397515452
by keeptrying
10 subcomments
- If OpenAI is the foremost in solving the AGI - possibly the biggest invention of mankind - it's a little weird that everyone's dropping out.
Does it not look like that no one wants to work with Sam in the long run?
- I will never understand why people still take statements like these at face value. These aren't her personal thoughts and feelings. The letter was carefully crafted by OpenAI's PR team under strict direction from Sam and the board. Whatever the real story is is sitting under many layers of NDAs and threats of clawing back/diluting her shares, and we will not know it for a long time. What I can say for certain is no executive in her position ever willingly resigns to pursue different passions/spend more time with their family/enjoy retirement or whatever else.
by ants_everywhere
4 subcomments
- > we fundamentally changed how AI systems learn and reason through complex problems
I'm not an AI researcher, have they done this? The commentary I've seen on o1 is basically that they incorporated techniques that were already being used.
I'd also be curious to learn: what fundamental contributions to research has OpenAI made?
The ChatGPT that was released in 2022 was based on Google's research, and IMO the internal Google chatbot from 2021 was better than the first ChatGPT.
I know they employ a lot of AI scientists who have previously published milestone work, and I've read at least one OpenAI paper. But I'm genuinely unaware of what fundamental breakthroughs they've made as a company.
I'm willing to believe they've done important work, and I'm seriously asking for pointers to some of it. What I know of them is mainly that they've been first to market with existing tech, possibly training on more data.
- Bob McGrew, head of research just quit too.
"I just shared this with OpenAI"
https://x.com/bobmcgrewai/status/1839099787423134051
Barret Zoph, VP Research (Post-Training)
"I posted this note to OpenAI."
https://x.com/barret_zoph/status/1839095143397515452
All used the same template.
- It is hard for me to square "This company is a few short years away from building world-changing AGI" and "I'm stepping away to do my own thing". Maybe I'm just bad at putting myself in someone else's shoes, but I feel like if I had spent years working towards a vision of AGI, and thought that success was finally just around the corner, it'd be very difficult to walk away.
- Related (possibly): OpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equity
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41651548
- I am glad most people do not talk in real life using the same style this message was written in.
by codingwagie
1 subcomments
- My bet is all of these people can raise 20-100M for their own startups. And they are already rich enough to retire. OpenAI is going corporate
- Lots of speculation in the comments. Who knows, but if it was me, I wouldn't be keeping all my eggs in the OpenAI basket, 6 years and well vested with a long run of AI companies you could go to? I'd start buying a few more lottery tickets personally (especially at 35).
by aprilthird2021
1 subcomments
- Most comments posit that if OpenAI is so close to AGI, why leave and miss that payoff?
It's possible that the competitors to OpenAI have rendered future improvements (yes even to the fabled AGI) less and less profitable to the point that the more profitable thing to do would be capitalize on your current fame and raise capital.
That's how I'm reading this. If the competition can be just as usable as OpenAI's SOA models and free or close to it, the profit starts vanishing in most predictions
- It is unsuprising that Murati is leaving, she was reported to be one of the principal advocates for pushing Sam out (1)
Of course everybody was quick to play nice once OpenAI insiders got the reality check from Satya that he'd just crush them by building an internal competing group, cut funding, and instantly destroy lots of paper millionaires.
I'd imagine that Mira and others had 6 - 12 month agreeements in place to let the dust settle and finish their latest round of funding without further drama
The OpenAI soap opera is going to be a great book or movie someday
(1) https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/07/technology/openai-executi...?
- Company is circling the drain. Sam Altman must be a real nightmare to work with.
by TheAlchemist
2 subcomments
- Similar to when Andrei Karpathy left Tesla. Tesla was on the verge of 'solving FSD' and unlocking trillions of $ of revenue (and mind you, this was already 3 years after the CEO said that they will have 1 million robotaxis on the road by the year's end).
Guess what ? Tesla is still on the verge of 'solving FSD'. And most probably it will be in the same place for the next 10 years.
The writing is on the wall for OpenAI.
by TheOtherHobbes
0 subcomment
- Perhaps the team decided to research how many 'r's are in 'non-compete.'
- The disparity between size of the promise and the ambiguity of the business model creates both necessity and advantage for executives to leverage external forces to shape company direction. Everyone in the C-suite would be seeking a foothold, but it's unlikely any CTO or technologist would be the real nexus for partner and now investor relations. So while there might be circumstances, history, and personalities involved, OpenAI's current situation basically dictates this.
With luck, Mr. Altman's overtures to bring in middle east investors will get locals on board; either way, it's fair to say he'll own whatever OpenAI becomes, whether he's an owner or not. And if he loses control in the current scrum, I suspect his replacement would be much worse (giving him yet another advantage).
Best wishes to all.
by VeejayRampay
1 subcomments
- that's a lot of core people leaving, especially since they're apparently so close to a "revolution in AGI"
I feel like either they're not close at all and the people know it's all lies or they're seeing some shady stuff and want nothing to do with it
- If you leave him on an island of cannibals...
He will be the only one left.
- Will probably start her own company and raise a billy like her old pal Iyla. I wouldn't blame her, there's been so many articles that technical people should just start their own company instead of being CTO.
- Once someone is independently wealthy, personal priorities change. I guarantee she'll crop up again as founder CEO/CTO where she calls the shots and gets the chance (even if slim) to turn millions into billions.
- Prediction: OpenAI will implode by 2030 and become a smaller shell of current as they run out of money by spending too much.
Prediction 2: Russia will implode by 2035, by also spending too much money.
by reducesuffering
0 subcomment
- Former OpenAI interim CEO Emmett Shear on this departure:
"You should, as a matter of course, read absolutely nothing into departure announcements. They are fully glommerized as a default, due to the incentive structure of the iterated game, and contain ~zero information beyond the fact of the departure itself."
https://x.com/eshear/status/1839050283953041769
- They set out to do some cool stuff. They did. Company is now in the reality of they need to run a business and make revenue/profit which is, honestly, a lot less fun than when you were in “let’s change the world and do cool stuff” phase. AGI is much further away than thought. Was a good run and time to do something else and let others now do the “run a company” phase. Seems like nothing more to it than that and seems fair to me.
by alexmolas
1 subcomments
- They can't spend more than 6 months without a drama...
by personalityson
0 subcomment
- Sam will be the last to leave and OpenAI continues to run on it's own
- Maybe OpenAI is trying to enter a new enterprise phase past its startup era?
They have hired CTO like figures from ex MSFt and so on … which would mean a natural exit for the startup era folks that we have seen recently?
Every company wants to sell itself as some grandiose savior initially ‘organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible’, ‘solve AGI’ but I guess the investors and the top level people in reality are motivated by dollar signs and ads and enterprise and so on.
Not that that’s a bad thing but really it’s a Potemkin village though…
- https://x.com/miramurati/status/1726542556203483392
by blackeyeblitzar
1 subcomments
- It doesn’t make sense to me that someone in such a position at a place like OpenAI would leave. So I assume that means she was forced out, maybe due to underperformance, or the failed coup, or something else. Anyone know what the story is on her background and how she got into that position and what she contributed? I’ve heard interesting stories, some positive and some negative, but can’t tell what’s true. It seems like there generally is just a lot of controversy around this “nonprofit”.
- OpenAI is shifting from “we did some really cool stuff” phase into the reality of needing to run a company, getting revenue, etc phase. Not common for folks to want to move on and go find the next cool thing. AGI is not around the corner. Building a company is a very different thing than building cool stuff and OpenAI is now in building a company mode.
by moralestapia
0 subcomment
- The right way to think about this is that every persona on that team has a billion-dollar size blank check from VCs in front of them.
OpenAI made them good money, yes; but if at some point there's a new endeavor in the horizon with another guaranteed billion-dollar payout, they'll just take it. Exhibit A: Ilya.
New razor: never attribute to AGI that which is adequately explained by greed.
- How bad of a sign is it that so many people have left over the last 12 months? Can anyone speak to how different things are?
by Sandworm5639
1 subcomments
- Can anyone tell me more about Mira Murati? What else is she known for? How did she end up in this position?
- So ChatGPT turned AGI and found a way to blackmail all of the ones that were agains it (them?) and blackmailed them to leave. For some reason I'm thinking of a movie Demon Seed... :P
- What on Earth is going on that they keep losing their best people. Is it a strange work environment?
- I think mira saw that sama is wrong, so she left.
https://www.lycee.ai/blog/why-sam-altman-is-wrong
- They will all be replaced by ASIs soon, so it doesn't matter who s coming and going
by greener_grass
0 subcomment
- AI safety people claiming that working on AI start-ups is a good way to prevent harmful AI is laughable.
The second you hit some kind of breakthrough, capital finds a way to remove any and all guardrails that might impede future profits.
It happened at DeepMind, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI. Why won't this happen the next time?
And ironically, many in this community say that corporations are AI.
by throwaway314155
4 subcomments
- I've forgotten, did she play a role in the attempted Sam Altman ouster?
- Can someone share a non twitter link? For those of us who can’t access it.
by sourcepluck
0 subcomment
- Super-closed-source-for-maximum-profit-AI lost an employee? I hope she enters into a fruitful combative relationship with her former employer.
by user90131313
0 subcomment
- How many big names are still working on OpenAI at this point? They lost all the edge this year. That drama from last year literally broke all the core team.
by nopromisessir
1 subcomments
- She might just be stressed out. Happens all the time. She's in a very demanding position.
She's a pro. Lots to learn from watching how she operates.
- It was only a matter of time - IIRC she did try to stab Altman in the back when he was pushed out, and that likely sealed her fate.
- Not a big deal if you don’t look too closely
- Treason doth never prosper, what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it Treason.
- She'll pop up working with Ilya
- People are saying this is coup-related but it could also be due to this horrible response to the a question about what they used to train their Sora model:
https://youtu.be/mAUpxN-EIgU?feature=shared&t=263
by monkfish328
0 subcomment
- Guessing they've all made a lot of dough as well already?
by nalekberov
0 subcomment
- Hopefully she didn't generate her farewell message using AI.
by desireco42
0 subcomment
- She was out of her depth there, I don't know how she lasted this long. During worst time she showed 0 leadership. But this is from my outside perspective.
- a-few-moments-later.jpeg:
- She and the prime minister of Albania on the same photo
by stonethrowaway
0 subcomment
- What was her angle from beginning?
- My guess is that OpenAI has been taken over by three letter agencies (the adults have arrived) and the people leaving now are the ones who have a conscience and refuse to build the most powerful tool for tyranny and hand it to one of the most evil governments on earth.
Sam, being the soulless grifter and scammer he is, of course will remain until the bitter end, drunk with the glimpse of power he surely got while forging backroom deals with the big boys.
by OutOfHere
1 subcomments
- I mean no disrespect, but to me, she always felt like an interim hire for her current role, like someone filling a position because there wasn't anyone else.
by DeathArrow
0 subcomment
- Why is this important?
by gazebushka
0 subcomment
- Man I really want to read a book about all of this drama
- Plain-text version for those who can’t read images:
“Hi all,
I have something to share with you. After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI.
My six-and-a-half years with the OpenAI team have been an extraordinary privilege. While I'll express my gratitude to many individuals in the coming days, I want to start by thanking Sam and Greg for their trust in me to lead the technical organization and for their support throughout the years.
There's never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right. Our recent releases of speech-to-speech and OpenAI o1 mark the beginning of a new era in interaction and intelligence – achievements made possible by your ingenuity and craftsmanship. We didn't merely build smarter models, we fundamentally changed how AI systems learn and reason through complex problems. We brought safety research from the theoretical realm into practical applications, creating models that are more robust, aligned, and steerable than ever before. Our work has made cutting-edge AI research intuitive and accessible, developing technology that adapts and evolves based on everyone's input. This success is a testament to our outstanding teamwork, and it is because of your brilliance, your dedication, and your commitment that OpenAI stands at the pinnacle of AI innovation.
I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration. For now, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we've built.
I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to build and work alongside this remarkable team. Together, we've pushed the boundaries of scientific understanding in our quest to improve human well-being.
While I may no longer be in the trenches with you, I will still be rooting for you all. With deep gratitude for the friendships forged, the triumphs achieved, and most importantly, the
challenges overcome together.
Mira”
by abecedarius
2 subcomments
- Gwern predicting this in March:
> Sam Altman has won. [...] Ilya Sutskever and Mira Murati will leave OA or otherwise take on some sort of clearly diminished role by year-end (90%, 75%; cf. Murati's desperate-sounding internal note)
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/KXHMCH7wCxrvKsJyn/openai-fac...
- Sutskever [1], Karpathy [2], Schulman [3], and Murati today! Who's next? Altman?!
_________________
1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40361128
2. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39365935
3. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41168904
- It’s Sam’s Club now.
by Jayakumark
2 subcomments
- At this point no one except Sam from founding team is in the company.
- The politics of leadership at OpenAI must be absolutely insane. “Leaving to do my own exploration”? Come on. You have Sam making blog posts claiming AI is going to literally be the second coming of Christ and then this a day later.
- [dead]
by Reimersholme
1 subcomments
- ...and Sam Altman once again posts a response including uppercase, similar to when Ilya left. It's like he wants to let everyone know that he didn't actually care enough to write it himself but just asked chatGPT to write something for him.
by whotfismira
1 subcomments
- [flagged]
by meow_catrix
0 subcomment
- Yada yada dump at ath
- Maybe I'm just a rotten person, but I always find these overly gracious exit letters by higher-ups to be pretty nauseating.
by hshshshsvsv
0 subcomment
- One possible explanation could be OpenAI has no clue on inventing AGI. And since she has now fuck you money she might as well live it instead of wasting away working for OpenAI.
- Everyone postulating that this was Sam’s bidding is forgetting that Greg also left this year,
clearly on his own volition.
That makes it much more probable that these execs have simply lost faith in OpenAI.
- > “Leaving to do my own exploration”
Lets write this chapter and take some guesses, it's either going to be:
1. Anthropic.
2. SSI Inc.
3. Own AI Startup.
4. Neither.
Only one is correct.
by archiepeach
0 subcomment
- When multiple senior people resign in protest, it's indicative that they're not happy with someone among their own ranks who they vehemently disagree with. John Schulman and Greg left in the same week. Greg, opting to choose to take a sabbatical, may have chosen that over full-on resigning which would align with how he acted during the board-ousting - standing by Sam till the end.
If multiple key people were drastically unhappy with her, it would have shaken confidence in herself and everyone working with her. What else to do but let her go?
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