OpenAI’s future and that of former CEO Sam Altman remain uncertain amidst a leadership crisis that has thrown the artificial intelligence industry into chaos. The recent chaos has led to many employees threatening resignations, indicating that OpenAI’s boardroom drama could take an unexpected turn. Altman was announced to join Microsoft to lead an in-house AI research team. However, Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, said a different outcome was still possible. The turmoil has sparked widespread resignations and heightened tensions within the company.
Nadella told CNN contributor Kara Swisher on her podcast, “If something happens where their board and people decide they want to get back to some kind of state,” “one thing I’ll be very, very clear about is, we’re never going to get back into a situation where we get surprised like this again.” “That’s over.”
Nadella also said, “If we go back to working as we did on Friday, we will make it very clear that the governance gets fixed in a way that gives us more certainty and peace of mind.”
OpenAI board and CEO Larry Altman are in open talks to negotiate Altman’s possible return, highlighting the volatility of the AI industry and the potential direction of Microsoft’s future investments in AI. The situation has been marked by the sudden promotion of Mira Murati as Altman’s replacement, a letter signed by Murati and hundreds of colleagues calling for Altman’s return, and a letter signed by Ilya Sutskever.
With a deep partnership with OpenAI, Microsoft announced on Monday that it would hire Altman to lead an advanced in-house AI research team, but the deal is not yet final. Microsoft’s CEO, Nadella, argued that Microsoft benefits from Altman’s work, regardless of whether he works for Microsoft or OpenAI. The situation has been a hallmark of the crisis, with the board members appearing to step down, but no changes have been made.Enter your email to receive CNN’s nightcap newsletter.Bottom of Form
But what happens with OpenAI will affect more than just Microsoft. Altman and the hundreds of OpenAI employees said they will quit unless he is reinstated. The board resigns the most powerful and talented people in the AI industry.
Some people are already trying to make money from it: On Monday afternoon, Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, told OpenAI refugees that he would match their pay if they came to work for his company. On Monday, Nadella said that Microsoft “will have a place for all AI talent” from OpenAI that wants to leave.
How the competition for AI talent plays out and where Altman and his allies end up with their power will have a lasting effect on the progress of AI.
The crisis’s outcome could also mark a turning point in Silicon Valley’s long-running ideological battle over the long-term risks of AI. These risks seem to have been at the heart of the disagreements between Altman and the board that fired him quickly.
There are still a lot of questions about why the board fired Altman. Its official reason for firing Altman was that he wasn’t “honest” with the board enough. According to reports, OpenAI’s COO said the firing wasn’t because of “malfeasance” or any financial, security, or privacy problems. Swisher says that board concerns about Altman’s preferred pace or scope of AI development seem to have been a major factor. These concerns center on the dangers of an uncontrolled superintelligence. Emmett Shear, the new interim CEO of OpenAI, has denied that the firing was because of a “specific” disagreement about AI safety.
The board has been completely silent during this game of telephone, leaving outsiders to guess its reasons and the power play that led to Altman being fired.
This has given critics a chance to say that the board is stupid and doesn’t see the big picture, which could indirectly hurt their position on AI risk.
According to some conversations I’ve had within the OpenAI community, a group of people are very focused on the negative aspects of AI and the more general idea of AGI (artificial general intelligence) for the benefit of all humanity. These are likely the same people who don’t fully consider the human and financial consequences of firing the leader of the generative AI movement and angering the company that invested $10 billion in the movement.
Without getting into the real fears of existential AI risk, some of the people who worry the most about AI may lose their credibility because of the OpenAI mess.
