Following on from Jaysen's Full Disclosure newsletter:
This has been a quickly developing situation, making the HQ of OpenAI look positively chaotic. It seems OpenAI has taken a leaf out of Netflix's book of dropping an entire season's worth of content in a day.
Quick brief:
Sam Altman has been dismissed from OpenAI, the company he founded after the board lost confidence in him due to transparency concerns. He has also previously had conflicts with OpenAI's chief scientist. However, some investors were keen to have him back.
Along with his departure, Greg Brockman, another key individual, left the company.
Latest update: Microsoft's to the rescue:
Having been informed about his dismissal moments before the public, Microsoft, who owns 49% of OpenAI, could not oppose the decision. However, just an hour or so ago, Microsoft announced that Altman will be joining Microsoft, where he will lead a new advanced AI research team. Brockman will also be joining him.
Potential implications of losing Altman for OpenAI:
OpenAI is a startup. As a startup, OpenAI's potential and investor perception are closely tied to its founders and the people who built this company. Losing Altman, hailed as an AI superstar by the BBC poses a risk to the company's future and investor confidence.
This comes at a critical time for OpenAI as the company prepares for an upcoming share sale. If investor confidence falls weak, they may fail to raise the requisite capital.
Even more latest update: internal conflicts
While writing this, we have another news update on the situation. Most of the staff at OpenAI, more than 500 employees, threaten to resign and join Altman if the board do not resign themselves. The company has about 770 employees.
Surprisingly, this open letter to the board is signed by Ilya Sutskever, the chief scientist reported to have conflicts with Altman.
There is strong internal discontent brewing. The situation for OpenAI has turned from bad to worse.
Additional points to note for ACs:
1) Unfair dismissal:
A lot of the discourse around this situation indicated the dismissal was unexpected. There may be questions about whether this dismissal was lawful or not.
2) Non-solicit clauses:
There were rumours that Altman would take some of his employees with him. A non-solicit clause is to prevent departing employees from poaching current employees. Some employees could also have left because they supported Altman, like Brockman.
3) Non-compete clauses:
There were also rumours that Altman would start a new company. A non-compete clause can restrict an employee's ability to leave and compete with the company. However, it seems unreasonable for OpenAI to attempt to restrict Altman's ability to compete with them or even operate in the same industry.
4) NDA
Having built the company, Altman has access to considerable confidential information, if not all of it. OpenAI may have ensured the protection of their confidential information before they ousted Altman.
For more information on the story, check @Jaysen 's Full Disclosure newsletter.
This has been a quickly developing situation, making the HQ of OpenAI look positively chaotic. It seems OpenAI has taken a leaf out of Netflix's book of dropping an entire season's worth of content in a day.
Quick brief:
Sam Altman has been dismissed from OpenAI, the company he founded after the board lost confidence in him due to transparency concerns. He has also previously had conflicts with OpenAI's chief scientist. However, some investors were keen to have him back.
Along with his departure, Greg Brockman, another key individual, left the company.
Latest update: Microsoft's to the rescue:
Having been informed about his dismissal moments before the public, Microsoft, who owns 49% of OpenAI, could not oppose the decision. However, just an hour or so ago, Microsoft announced that Altman will be joining Microsoft, where he will lead a new advanced AI research team. Brockman will also be joining him.
Potential implications of losing Altman for OpenAI:
OpenAI is a startup. As a startup, OpenAI's potential and investor perception are closely tied to its founders and the people who built this company. Losing Altman, hailed as an AI superstar by the BBC poses a risk to the company's future and investor confidence.
This comes at a critical time for OpenAI as the company prepares for an upcoming share sale. If investor confidence falls weak, they may fail to raise the requisite capital.
Even more latest update: internal conflicts
While writing this, we have another news update on the situation. Most of the staff at OpenAI, more than 500 employees, threaten to resign and join Altman if the board do not resign themselves. The company has about 770 employees.
Surprisingly, this open letter to the board is signed by Ilya Sutskever, the chief scientist reported to have conflicts with Altman.
There is strong internal discontent brewing. The situation for OpenAI has turned from bad to worse.
Additional points to note for ACs:
1) Unfair dismissal:
A lot of the discourse around this situation indicated the dismissal was unexpected. There may be questions about whether this dismissal was lawful or not.
2) Non-solicit clauses:
There were rumours that Altman would take some of his employees with him. A non-solicit clause is to prevent departing employees from poaching current employees. Some employees could also have left because they supported Altman, like Brockman.
3) Non-compete clauses:
There were also rumours that Altman would start a new company. A non-compete clause can restrict an employee's ability to leave and compete with the company. However, it seems unreasonable for OpenAI to attempt to restrict Altman's ability to compete with them or even operate in the same industry.
4) NDA
Having built the company, Altman has access to considerable confidential information, if not all of it. OpenAI may have ensured the protection of their confidential information before they ousted Altman.
For more information on the story, check @Jaysen 's Full Disclosure newsletter.
