Sam Altman's Firing from OpenAI | Hacker News Reader

Sam Altman's Firing from OpenAI

msn.com

24 pointssmu7 comments

I'm not a fan of OpenAI, and certainly not a fan on Sam Altman, quite the opposite, it's anything but open, and at a fundamental level I believe it does the opposite it claimes to do—benefit humanity. In fact I've often called OpenAI a scam.

But the hubris of the conspiring board members is astounding. God, what arrogance. Not only conspire against Altman, but essentially conspire to destroy OpenAI itself. I don't understand how these people have not been charged with something. They didn't make a mistake, they were activelly sabotaging OpenAI. To think that these people are on other boards is unthinkable.

The type of people who survive long at that level have all been through this stuff thousands of times. On different sides of the story. As they climb the ladder, its all much smaller scale and private. So by the time the public starts noticing them, they already have been through this shit so many times that they have elaborate stories running in their head about "this is how you get things done/this is how you survive/those who cant are weak and will get crushed" etc etc. And most are driven by some Fear. Some are scared of failing (not succeeding), of loosing status, loosing control etc etc. So the process is driven by fear/guilt/shame/loss aversion. But what they actually say publicly is the total opposite. Therefore the cognitive dissonance. Most of them just burn out cause thats what that environment is optimized for. Its not an environment that allows sustainable leadership. You will see more and more burnout/dropouts as rate of change increases.

He was telling direct lies to board members about personal conversations with other board members. How is this reconcilable? I've never been anywhere near these circles but if an executive is so completely disdainful of your oversight then firing him really seems like the only possible option.

> [...] essentially conspire to destroy OpenAI itself

Where in the article did you see any suggestion that any member of the board wished to destroy OpenAI itself?

To me it seems more like it was the other way round. Sam Altman threatened to destroy OpenAI if he gets fired, and the board gave up.

Is there a way to filter out sycophants on this board? The bard singing praise to the nobles, court and king does nothing for me. The insane rants of the dead are more interesting and (occasionally ) of more value.

If i wanted to listen to FOREVER LOYAL NO MATTER HOW POWERMAD the KING middle management why would you go on a board of entrepreneurs ? ChatGpt play me out here:

Oh list, good folk, and hear my lay, Of one who leads both night and day! With wisdom keen and vision bold, He turns all stocks and shares to gold.

Chorus Hail, O Chief, in office high! None shall match thee, none defy! We toil with joy, we strive with glee, All for the realm of thy company!

Verse 2 From boardroom halls to factory ground, Thy mighty voice doth loud resound! With memos sharp and ledgers true, Thou guid’st us all, both old and new!

Chorus Hail, O Chief, in office high! None shall match thee, none defy! We toil with joy, we strive with glee, All for the realm of thy company!

> the hubris of the conspiring board members is astounding.

???

How does a company board conspire? A board is a group of people that collaborates basically for the sole purpose of deciding whether or not to fire the CEO at any given time. Whether or not you think they made the right call, that is the express purpose of any company board.

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