> On the podcast, Toner attributed Altman's swift return to employees being told that the company would collapse without him.
> Additionally, once a potential return seemed likely, employees feared retaliation from Altman if they did not support him, she said.
These employees are smart enough to decide for themselves how critical they believe Altman is.
The point is that they are smart because they know not to put themselves at risk with actions that would not lead to get rid of a threat.
> (...) decide for themselves who their lead should be.
They didn't had a vote or a choice. People living under a dictatorship also don't decide who their leader is when the dictator prompts them to show their support.
If a leader does not want to step down and the leader has power, that leader can wreck chaos where the rational move is to leave the leader in place. I don’t know enough about OpenAI or Sam Altman to judge the situation but given the absolutely chaotic situation when it unfolded it sounded very rational to restore the prior status quo.
This is how dictators get their 99% approval rating, and why democracies enshrine the right to vote in secrecy.
Regardless of who said/who thought that... Why would it?
Engineers need to take a good look at the mirror and stop idolizing "visionary jerk" figures.