I’ve seen nothing that indicates this is actually occurring other than rumor laced leaks to tech media. I will wager $20 Altman is the confidential source and the OpenAI board is spending Sunday with their family getting ready for work next week.
I'm not going to say it's specifically Altman himself that's the source, but it's been pretty clear to me that all of the sources have been from pro-Altman sources, and in many cases seem pretty clearly directed to increase pressure on the board to accept a counteroffer. Adjusting that for bias... I haven't seen any real indication that the board is actually seriously considering these offers.
I'll also note that it raises my eyebrows that there are apparently two consecutive "accept by X or we quit" deadlines that have now apparently blown by... which is a sign of the side currently in the desperately-negotiating position and which one isn't.
It’s one thing to not have to ask your major benefactors for input when you fire your CEO. It’s another to not do it and expect any further investment, ever. They should be in full on crisis mode and be trying to figure out how to get stakeholders back on board after so publicly slapping them in the face.
They have one of the most valuable products in tech. They have a binding agreement with Microsoft and MS needs OpenAI more than the other way around. They have a dedicated set of researchers who have not pledged to leave and ultimatums have come and gone without mass resignations.
They fired their CEO. It happens. They aren't trying to "salvage" anything. Yes, the for-profit subsidiary investors are probably upset, but the major shareholder is the non-profit who... and this is important... is not beholden to the other for-profit investors!
You think any agreement with Microsoft doesn’t have outs?
Imagine what sort of rubes would fire an employee and then go home afterward. What sort of charity organization doesn’t spend the weekend feverishly F5ing Bloomberg tweets about how disappointed the fired guy is about the situation?
These are exactly the sort of dimwits that would dump somebody and then like, not dedicate their time responding to every text from their exes buddies. Rookie shit.
Altman was posting that he's at openai. So, while media reports might be posturing/inaccurate, it's very likely there's some negotiating going on. https://twitter.com/sama/status/1726345564059832609