The Drama at OpenAI Is Over (not really)

Altman and Brockman are back, the stars are aligned, Santa is real, and everything is wonderful. (holding sarcasm sign)

So, they are back, but an immense amount of damage has been done.

Damaged/Losers:

• Reputational damage: Everyone that was public in this debacle is damaged, including the reputation of OpenAI.
• I am sure engineers within OpenAI who had not imagined are not imagining it.
• Companies who depend on OpenAI have gotten their wake up call and are now hunting for reasonable alternatives and pilfering talent from OpenAI
• Microsoft is a loser here because a lot of its future is pinned to OpenAI’s future.
• My popcorn budget

Winners:

• Microsoft is a winner because it now has a seat on the board of OpenAI so it gained even greater power than it previously had
• All the companies who will obtain OpenAI talent in the coming months.
• Any competitor to OpenAI. Their win is for various reasons, including a potential slowdown in OpenAI’s product development because of this disruption.

Neutral/Unsure:

• Humanity could end up being a winner or a loser in this. It remains to be seen. This could have been a decisive moment in the history of humanity regarding when AGI comes to fruition we just don’t know yet.

Marc Benioff tweeted, “Great to see the good guys win!” I am curious about his definition of “good.” Is this a “greed is good” kind of “good” or is it a “good for humanity” kind of “good?”

More Details:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/22/23967223/sam-altman-returns-ceo-open-ai