The Line

OpenAI, summary of events: The board fucked up and fired CEO Sam Altman, but over the next several hours/days the situation was unfucked. As of this writing, the state of play is Altman is back as CEO and a majority of the board has resigned. Whether or not that status survives the long weekend, the ultimate outcome has been clear since Sunday night: Altman reinstated at OpenAI. The board’s last stand was Darryl Hannah in a tree, refusing to come down in protest — illusory relevance with the half-life of a Planet Fitness seven-day pass.

Microsoft hiring the entire OpenAI workforce was never realistic, despite the made-for-TV moment of 500 people boarding a plane for Seattle. Some of the problems: broken employee and partnership agreements with OpenAI and infringement of its IP rights; Microsoft’s assimilation of 500 different comp/equity agreements; the response of OpenAI investors (a16z, Khosla Ventures, Sequoia, Thrive, and Tiger) to their multibillion-dollar stakes getting effectively transferred to MSFT; and antitrust concerns over greater concentration in AI power. Satya knew this and was careful to say he welcomed the opportunity to work with OpenAI again should Altman return. Which was the better/more viable outcome for both of them all along.

Συνέχεια εδώ