When openAI made its Nov 2022 chatGPT announcement, why did they try so hard to hype it in anthropomorphic terms? Why did they push the idea it was a 'black box' that they didn't understand how it worked? That it was a serious threat to humanity and that government oversight was urgently needed (leading to a meeting at the White House)?

I'm not suggesting GPT has no value. But in hindsight everything I described above was pure bull. I suppose it could be suggested that Sam Altman and his engineers didn't understand their own algorithms. But I don't buy that fairytale.