Sam Altman is a wolf in sheep’s clothing

The OpenAI founder was fired then rehired. Why should you care?

Sam Altman. The CEO and co-founder of OpenAI was fired Friday. His company is responsible for ChatGPT and DALL-E. I’m a fan of neither.

The firing was mysterious, with tech bros and blue checkmark sycophants rushing to Twitter to thank Sam for his “service.”

OpenAI was a non-profit company before Sam decided to create a “for-profit arm.” The decision was profitable immediately. Microsoft spent billions for 49% of the company.

Emboldened by venture capitalist cash, Sam rushed ChatGPT to market with little guardrails. The public and Wall Street ate it up. Other corporations saw $$$ and decided to shove AI down our throats.

Workers across industries lost their jobs, healthcare lost its mind, and Hollywood suffered two protracted strikes.

All the while, Sam has kept an odd profile. Testifying to Congress that AI could mean the end of civilization while also parading his many “accomplishments” on social media.

Why was Sam fired from his own company? The company he raised so much cash for? It seems the board believed OpenAI was moving too fast. That Sam wasn’t being “candid” with them. OpenAI was supposed to be a non-profit committed to ethical use of the tech. Maybe some of them grew a conscience.

The Atlantic recently asked Sam whether decisions made by OpenAI’s leaders might one day lead to massive unemployment.

“Jobs are definitely going to go away, full stop,” he replied.

Sadly, the corporate greed of Microsoft and its investors forced the board to consider re-hiring Sam. OpenAI’s board rejected the offer and Microsoft hired Sam to lead “advanced AI development”. Days later OpenAI fired its board and rehired Sam.

Sam Altman's push to rush generative AI to the masses has thrown multiple industries into upheaval, ripped off a century of artists' work, and will lead to massive job extinction.

And OpenAI? They just fired the people who cared about safety.

11/22/23 UPDATE: According to Reuters, “several staff researchers sent the board of directors a letter warning of a powerful artificial intelligence discovery that they said could threaten humanity.”