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☆ AI companies need to get society's input as they build out the technology, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky say
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewAs companies and startups race to implement artificial intelligence into their products, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky and OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman have a word of caution: Don't leave society behind. "I think that if everyone here could feel like they could participate and they could have their input into it, then I don't think there's a huge thing to fear," Chesky said. A few former board members accused Altman of lying to colleagues and creating a toxic culture through "psychological abuse." While researchers fear that AI will exacerbate the loneliness epidemic, Chesky believes the tool will "help bring people together." "At the end of the day, it's not the technology; it's the people with the technology," Chesky said, referring to those who are building with AI.

Persons: —, Brian Chesky, Sam Altman, Chesky, NBC News's Lester Holt, Altman, OpenAI's ChatGPT, ethicists, Sam didn't, Helen Toner, Jan Leike, Leike, it's Organizations: Service, NBC, Aspen Ideas, Business, OpenAI, Rhode Island School of Design

☆ How to Save Tech Industry: Fire Managers, Put Tech People in Charge
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Ed Zitron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

This disastrous mindset has hollowed out Silicon Valley's ability to innovate and caused regular people to grow increasingly frustrated with everyday tech. The large platforms have generally ignored this feedback for one big reason: The tech industry has been taken over by career managers. Now Google Search is more profitable and worse, elevating spammy content and outright scams, a problem exacerbated by artificial intelligence. AdvertisementBut today's tech products feel built to sell a dream of the future rather than solve a customer's existing pains. As long as the tech industry is controlled by people who don't build things, it will continue to build products that help raise growth metrics rather than help consumers with tangible problems.

Persons: scammers hawking, Meta's, Hewlett Packard, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, Adam Mosseri, Systrom, Krieger, Mosseri, Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram, Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Sundar Pichai, Prabhakar Raghavan, Raghavan, Ben Gomes, Gomes, it's, Sam Altman, Helen Toner, Ilya Sutskever, Larry Summers, Fidji Simo, Meta —, —, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak Organizations: Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, Adobe, Meta, Builders, Apple, Xerox, HP, Department, Reuters Institute, Oxford University, Silicon Valley Locations: Silicon, Silicon Valley

☆ Silicon Valley's battle over AI risks is escalating fast
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewThere's a battle in Silicon Valley over AI risks and safety — and it's escalating fast. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Right to WarnWhile the concerns around AI safety are nothing new, they're increasingly being amplified by those within AI companies. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours. A spokesperson previously reiterated the company's commitment to safety, highlighting an "anonymous integrity hotline" for employees to voice their concerns and the company's safety and security committee.

Persons: —, OpenAI, Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, Stuart Russell, Jacob Hilton, Hilton, Sam Altman, Helen Toner, Altman, Russell, Daniel Kokotajlo, Kokotajlo Organizations: Service, Google, Business Locations: Silicon Valley, OpenAI

☆ It's all unraveling at OpenAI (again)
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-04 | by ( Madeline Berg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

In a statement to Business Insider, an OpenAI spokesperson reiterated the company's commitment to safety, highlighting an "anonymous integrity hotline" for employees to voice their concerns and the company's safety and security committee. Safety second (or third)A common theme of the complaints is that, at OpenAI, safety isn't first — growth and profits are. (In a responding op-ed, current OpenAI board members Bret Taylor and Larry Summers defended Altman and the company's safety standards.) "I have been disagreeing with OpenAI leadership about the company's core priorities for quite some time, until we finally reached a breaking point." (Altman and OpenAI said he recused himself from these deals.)

Persons: —, Sam Altman, Daniel Kokotajlo, OpenAI, Altman, Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley, Toner, McCauley, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, Kokotajlo, Jan Leike, Ilya Sutskever, Leike, Stuart Russell, NDAs, Scarlett Johansson, lawyered, Johansson, " Johansson, I've, Sam Altman — Organizations: Service, New York Times, Business, Times, Twitter, Microsoft, The New York Times, BI, Street, OpenAI, OpenAI's, Apple Locations: OpenAI, Russian, Reddit

☆ Y Combinator founder says Sam Altman wasn't fired
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewOpenAI CEO Sam Altman wasn't fired from his position as Y Combinator president in 2019, the startup accelerator's cofounder Paul Graham said on Thursday. "People have been claiming YC fired Sam Altman. Both outlets reported that Altman was asked to leave the organization for favoring his personal interests over Y Combinator's. AdvertisementRepresentatives for Altman and Y Combinator did not immediately respond to requests for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours. "We do not accept the claims made by Ms Toner and Ms McCauley regarding events at OpenAI," Taylor and Summers wrote.

Persons: —, Sam Altman wasn't, Y, Paul Graham, Sam Altman, That's, Graham, OpenAI, Sam, Jessica, Jessica Livingston, Altman, he'd, 3YvBDH7oqV — Paul Graham, Graham's, Y Combinator, Combinator, OpenAI's, Helen Toner, who'd, Toner, Tasha McCauley, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, McCauley, Ms Toner, Ms McCauley, Taylor, Summers, Toner's, Mr Altman Organizations: Service, YC, Business, we'd, Wall Street, The Washington Post, BI, OpenAI Locations: OpenAI

☆ Sam Altman is considering turning OpenAI into a regular company: report
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The 39-year-old Stanford dropout has talked about turning OpenAI into a regular, for-profit company, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing an individual who'd spoken to Altman. Unlike most companies, OpenAI says it is run as a "capped-profit" company, with its for-profit arm governed by a nonprofit. According to Toner, OpenAI's board was kept in the dark about ChatGPT's release in November 2022. Toner, who left the board shortly after Altman was reinstated as CEO, also accused him of lying about his financial interests in OpenAI. "Our focus remains on moving forward and pursuing OpenAI's mission to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity."

Persons: —, Sam Altman, Altman, OpenAI, Sam, Helen Toner, Toner, OpenAI's, Sam didn't, " Toner, Bret Taylor, OpenAI didn't Organizations: Service, Stanford, Business, Microsoft, Fund, SEC, BI Locations: OpenAI

☆ OpenAI board members brush off warning from ex-directors and defend Sam Altman as 'highly forthcoming'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewThis has been the week of dueling op-eds from former and current OpenAI board members. Current OpenAI board members Bret Taylor and Larry Summers issued a response to AI safety concerns on Thursday, stating that "the board is taking commensurate steps to ensure safety and security." In the last six months, the two current board members said they had found Altman "highly forthcoming on all relevant issues and consistently collegial with his management team." She also said that the old OpenAI board found out about ChatGPT's release on Twitter. OpenAI dissolved the superalignment safety team before later announcing the formation of a new safety committee.

Persons: —, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley, Sam Altman, Taylor, Summers, Altman, OpenAI, WilmerHale, Toner, Openai, he's, Jan Leike, Ilya Sutskever, Gretchen Krueger, Leike, Krueger Organizations: Service, Business, Twitter, World, Summit

☆ Former OpenAI board member explains why CEO Sam Altman was fired
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Former OpenAI board member Helen Toner, who helped oust CEO Sam Altman in November, broke her silence this week when she spoke on a podcast about events inside the company leading up to Altman's firing. Toner also said Altman did not tell the board he owned the OpenAI startup fund. Within a week, Altman was back and board members Toner and Tasha McCauley, who had voted to oust Altman, were out. In March, OpenAI announced its new board, which includes Altman, and the conclusion of an internal investigation by law firm WilmerHale into the events leading up to Altman's ouster. "The review concluded there was a significant breakdown of trust between the prior board and Sam and Greg," OpenAI board chair Bret Taylor said at the time, referring to president and co-founder Greg Brockman.

Persons: Helen Toner, CSET, Vox, Sam Altman, OpenAI, Toner, Altman, Sam, Ilya Sutskever, Jan Leike, Anthropic, OpenAI's, Sutskever, Tasha McCauley, Adam D'Angelo, WilmerHale, Greg, Bret Taylor, Greg Brockman, Taylor Organizations: The Ritz, Carlton, Twitter, OpenAI, Microsoft, Street Locations: Laguna Niguel, Dana Point , California

☆ OpenAI's board learned about ChatGPT's release on Twitter, ex-board member says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Sarah Jackson | Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

OpenAI's board was as surprised as the public was by ChatGPT's 2022 release, a former member says. Helen Toner said the board "was not informed in advance" and actually learned about it on Twitter. AdvertisementThe release of ChatGPT took the world by surprise in 2022 — and a former OpenAI board member says that was the case for the company's board of directors, too. On November 30, 2022, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman tweeted a link to the chatbot, writing: "today we launched ChatGPT. But Helen Toner said the board wasn't given a heads-up about the release and learned about it from Twitter, now X.

Persons: Helen Toner, Sam Altman, —, ChatGPT Organizations: Twitter, Service, Business

☆ Ex-OpenAI board member reveals what led to Sam Altman's brief ousting
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Former OpenAI board member Helen Toner revealed explosive new details about what led to CEO Sam Altman's brief ousting in November. Toner — one of the board members who voted to kick Altman out — alleged Altman also lied to the board by keeping them in the dark about the company's ownership structure. "Sam didn't inform the board that he owned the OpenAI startup fund, even though he constantly was claiming to be an independent board member with no financial interest in the company," she said. She claims he "started lying to other board members in order to try and push me off the board." Toner resigned from her role as an OpenAI board member less than two weeks after Altman returned as CEO.

Persons: Helen Toner, Sam Altman's, Bilawal Sidhu, Ted AI, Toner, Altman, OpenAI's, Toner —, —, Sam didn't, OpenAI didn't, Georgetown —, OpenAI, Sam, didn't, poach Organizations: Service, Twitter, Business, Centre for Security, Emerging Technology, Georgetown, Microsoft Locations: OpenAI, jyotimann

☆ Former OpenAI board members say the company can't be trusted to govern itself
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-27 | by ( Lloyd Lee | Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewTwo former OpenAI board members say artificial intelligence companies can't be trusted to govern themselves and that third-party regulation is necessary to hold them accountable. Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley were board members at OpenAI before they stepped down in November amid a chaotic push to oust OpenAI cofounder Sam Altman. AdvertisementWith Altman back at the helm, Toner and McCauley wrote that OpenAI can't be trusted to hold itself accountable. Related storiesThe former board members wrote that they once believed that OpenAI could govern itself, but "based on our experience, we believe that self-governance cannot reliably withstand the pressure of profit incentives." AdvertisementThe board's 22 members include Altman and chief executives of large tech companies, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.

Persons: —, Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley, OpenAI, Sam Altman, Altman, Scarlett Johansson, Chat, Toner, McCauley, — bode, Jensen Huang, Sundar Pichai, ethicists, Margaret Mitchell Organizations: Service, Business, Department of Homeland Security, Artificial Intelligence, Security Board, Nvidia, Ars Technica Locations: OpenAI

☆ OpenAI dissolves team focused on long-term AI risks, less than one year after announcing it
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The news comes days after both team leaders, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike, announced their departures from the Microsoft-backed startup. OpenAI's Superalignment team, announced last year, has focused on "scientific and technical breakthroughs to steer and control AI systems much smarter than us." "I joined because I thought OpenAI would be the best place in the world to do this research," Leike wrote on X. Leike wrote that he believes much more of the company's bandwidth should be focused on security, monitoring, preparedness, safety and societal impact. The update brings the GPT-4 model to everyone, including OpenAI's free users, technology chief Mira Murati said Monday in a livestreamed event.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI, Ilya Sutskever, Jan Leike, OpenAI's, Leike, Altman, Sutskever, Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley, Adam D'Angelo, Ilya, Jakub Pachocki, Mira Murati, Murati Organizations: OpenAI, Hope, CNBC, Microsoft, Wired, Tuesday, Wall Street Locations: Atlanta, Leike, OpenAI

OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever said Tuesday that he's leaving the Microsoft -backed startup. The departure comes months after OpenAI went through a leadership crisis involving co-founder and CEO Sam Altman. In November, OpenAI's board said in a statement that Altman had not been "consistently candid in his communications with the board." OpenAI has announced new board members, including former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. In 2015, Altman and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, another OpenAI co-founder, wanted Sutskever, then a research scientist at Google , to become the budding startup's top scientist, according to the lawsuit Musk filed against OpenAI in March.

Persons: Sam Altman, Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI, he's, Sutskever, OpenAI's, Altman, Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley, Adam D'Angelo, Ilya, Jakub Pachocki, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, WilmerHale, Sue Desmond, Hellmann, Melinda Gates, Nicole Seligman, Fidji Simo, Greg, Sam, Greg Brockman, Mira Murati, Murati, Elon Musk, Musk, Dr Organizations: Tel Aviv University, Microsoft, Street, OpenAI's, Sony, Sony Entertainment, Tesla, Google, OpenAI Locations: Tel Aviv, OpenAI

☆ The result of OpenAI's probe was released — and it's less than 500 words — offering very little insight
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. The Open AI probe was launched in December, a few weeks after the board announced Altman's shocking departure and reinstatement. The company formed a special committee that hired WilmerHale to conduct a probe of the events surrounding Altman's sudden firing. AdvertisementDetails of Altman's strained relationship with OpenAI's former board members and employees were known days after the CEO was booted from the company. AdvertisementThe latest Times report from Thursday revealed that Mira Murati, OpenAI's chief technology officer, was instrumental in Sam Altman's ousting.

Persons: —, Sam Altman, WilmerHale, Altman, ChatGPT, Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, Ilya Sutskever, Adam D'Angelo, Larry Summers, Bret Taylor, Sue Desmond, Hellmann, Melinda Gates, Nicole Seligman, Fidji Simo, Mira Murati, Sam Altman's, Murati, Ilya Organizations: Service, Business, New York Times, Melinda Gates Foundation, Sony, Times, OpenAI

☆ Sam Altman rejoins OpenAI board of directors as investigation into his ouster comes to a close
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attends the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 18, 2024. OpenAI on Friday announced its new board and the wrap-up of an internal investigation by U.S. law firm WilmerHale into the events leading up to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's ouster. Sam Altman will also rejoin OpenAI's board. "We have unanimously concluded that Sam and Greg are the right leaders for OpenAI," Bret Taylor, chair of OpenAI's board, said in a release. Since then, OpenAI has announced new board members, including former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI, WilmerHale, Sam Altman's, OpenAI's, Sue Desmond, Hellmann, Melinda Gates, Nicole Seligman, Fidji Simo, Adam D'Angelo, Larry Summers, Bret Taylor, Greg, Sam, Taylor, Altman, Bret, Larry, Mira Murati, Mira, Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley, Ilya Sutskever, Ilya, Elon Musk, Greg Brockman, Musk, –, Toner, McCauley, Altman's Organizations: Economic, Friday, Melinda Gates Foundation, Pfizer, Advisors, Science, Technology, Global, Sony, Sony Entertainment, Paramount Global, Meira, Inc, Shopify, OpenAI, Microsoft, Fortune, Lawyers, CNBC, SpaceX, Nvidia Locations: Davos, Switzerland, President's, OpenAI's San Francisco, U.S, Saudi Aramco

OpenAI is reinstating CEO Sam Altman to its board of directors and said it has “full confidence” in his leadership after the conclusion of an outside investigation into the company's turmoil. After months of investigation, it found that Altman's ouster was a “consequence of a breakdown in the relationship and loss of trust” between him and the prior board, OpenAI said in a summary of the findings Friday. The investigation found the prior board acted within its discretion. “The review concluded there was a significant breakdown in trust between the prior board, and Sam and Greg,” Bret Taylor, the board’s chair, told reporters Friday. After it retained the law firm in December, OpenAI said WilmerHale conducted dozens of interviews with the company’s prior board, current executives, advisers and other witnesses.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, OpenAI, Sue Desmond, Hellman, Melinda Gates, Nicole Seligman, Fidji Simo, “ I’m, ” Altman, he’s, ”, Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley, “, Greg Brockman, ” OpenAI, Brockman, Greg, ” Bret Taylor, Taylor, Microsoft —, Toner, McCauley, Ilya Sutskever, Sutskever, Ilya, Elon Musk, Larry Summers, Adam D’Angelo, WilmerHale, WilmerHale didn't, Musk, ” Taylor Organizations: Sony, San, OpenAI, Microsoft, Georgetown University, RAND Corporation, Facebook, Elon, U.S ., Associated Press Locations: San Francisco, U.S

☆ Sam Altman set to return to OpenAI's board of directors nearly 5 months after surprise ouster
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

CEO Sam Altman will be reinstated to OpenAI's board of directors. Bret Taylor, chair of OpenAI's board, said members "unanimously concluded" Altman is right to lead the company. The AI startup will also bring on three additional new board members, the company announced. AdvertisementOpenAI CEO Sam Altman is set to return to OpenAI's board of directors, the company announced Friday. "We have unanimously concluded that Sam and Greg are the right leaders for OpenAI," Bret Taylor, chair of the OpenAI board, said in a statement released Friday.

Persons: Sam Altman, Bret Taylor, Altman, —, Ilya Sutskever, Adam D'Angelo, Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, Sam, Greg, Toner, McCauly, Sutskever, Elon Musk, OpenAI, Melinda Gates, Sue Desmond, Hellman, Nicole Seligman, Fidji Simo Organizations: Service, OpenAI, Elon, Melinda Gates Foundation, Sony Entertainment, Business Locations: OpenAI, xAI

☆ OpenAI's nonprofit arm showed revenue of $45,000 last year, even though company is worth billions
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-12 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

That's from the nonprofit parent's 990 filing with the Internal Revenue Service, a form that has to be filled out by organizations wishing to maintain their tax-exempt status. Thad Calabrese, a professor of public and nonprofit financial management at New York University, said OpenAI's current status is confusing, and is unlike anything he has seen in the nonprofit world. He said OpenAI could give up its nonprofit status, and he cited the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, which in 1994 allowed associated nonprofit medical insurance plans to switch into for-profit entities. An OpenAI spokesperson didn't respond to a question about whether the organization is considering giving up its nonprofit status. Unlike OpenAI, Mozilla never raised money from venture and corporate investors, who expect returns on their investments.

Persons: Sam Altman, OpenAI's financials, OpenAI, That's, PlainSite, Altman, Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley, Ilya Sutskever, Thad Calabrese, Calabrese, didn't, Mark Surman, Surman, Altman's, hasn't, Bret Taylor Organizations: Internal Revenue Service, CNBC, New York University, Shield Association, Mozilla Foundation, Mozilla Corporation, Mozilla, Microsoft, Duke University Locations: California

☆ How Sam Altman's OpenAI drama highlighted the debate splitting Silicon Valley: Are you an e/acc or decel?
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-07 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewSam Altman's brief ousting as OpenAI CEO didn't just thrust the company further into the global spotlight amid reported personality clashes. It's also highlighted a bigger ethical debate in Silicon Valley: how fast companies should move when pushing out AI technology. Broadly speaking, the debate lies in whether you think that moving full-speed ahead on AI technology will save the world or you think the industry needs to slow down. One key Silicon Valley backer of the idea is veteran venture capitalist Marc Andreessen . His advice to Silicon Valley: "I would encourage any watchers of the industry to not get stuck in a divisive set of rhetoric."

Persons: —, Sam Altman's, didn't, It's, Altman, he's, you've, Marc Andreessen, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Sam Bankman, Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley, Toner, McCauley, Altman's, EAs —, Sriram Krishnan, Andreessen Horowitz, — Sriram Krishnan, Gaurab Bansal Organizations: Service, Business, acc, EA, Elon, Wall Street Journal, EAs, Labs, US Department of Commerce, Innovation Labs Locations: Silicon Valley, Silicon

☆ Ex-OpenAI director Reid Hoffman says we still don't 'fully know' why board forced out Altman
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Three weeks after OpenAI's board briefly pushed out CEO Sam Altman without providing a specific reason for its decision, former director Reid Hoffman says he's still puzzled by what took place and why. He stepped down from OpenAI's board in March and said he hasn't spoken with any of the board members, though he said he did communicate with Altman. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella offered to hire Altman, OpenAI president Greg Brockman and their colleagues in a new advanced AI research group. "I do think that we're in a much better place in the world" to have Altman in the CEO seat again, Hoffman said. WATCH: Sam Altman returns as OpenAI CEO and Microsoft secures nonvoting board seat

Persons: Sam Altman, Reid Hoffman, he's, Hoffman, Altman, OpenAI, Ilya Sutskever, Altman wasn't, Helen Toner, Adam Selipsky, Microsoft's, Satya Nadella, Greg Brockman, quickliy, isn't Organizations: LinkedIn, Bloomberg, New York Times, Reuters, Yorker, Microsoft, Benz Locations: San Francisco, Las Vegas

☆ Sam Altman's biggest lesson for founders: control freaks win
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A takeaway for other founders: control matters. A founder's narrative control can wane too if board members disagree with a founder's vision. AdvertisementAltman did not, in practice, start with much control at OpenAI, despite being its CEO and, prior to the blowup, a board member. "A lot of VCs still act as if founders retaining board control after a series A is unheard-of. OpenAI's version of founder control doesn't necessarily look like others: its CEO apparently doesn't hold the majority of stock.

Persons: Sam Altman, Paul Graham, —, Altman, Altman's, Helen Toner, Toner, Y, Graham's, Graham, aren't, Mark Zuckerberg, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers Organizations: Service, Microsoft Locations: OpenAI

☆ We now have more details on what the heck happened at OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A new report described in more detail why the OpenAI board initially pushed out Sam Altman. Altman reportedly tried to get a board member, Helen Toner, kicked out, but it backfired. The report cited an unnamed source who said Altman tried to play board members against each other. Here's what the outlet wrote in part (emphasis added):Some members of the OpenAI board had found Altman an unnervingly slippery operator. Read here: The Inside Story of Microsoft's Partnership With OpenAI (The New Yorker)

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Helen Toner, —, Sam Altman —, Kevin Scott, Mira Murati, he'd, OpenAI, Toner Organizations: Service, Yorker, Microsoft, New York Times, Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Georgetown University, Microsoft's Locations: Turkey, New, Yorker

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 29 (Reuters) - Microsoft will take a non-voting, observer position on OpenAI's board, CEO Sam Altman said in his first official missive after taking back the reins of the company on Wednesday. The observer position means Microsoft's representative can attend OpenAI's board meetings and access confidential information, but it does not have voting rights on matters including electing or choosing directors. The new OpenAI board is on an active search for six new members with expertise in fields from technology to safety and policy. OpenAI's chief scientist Ilya Sutskever will no longer be part of the board, Altman said. Apart from Altman, Brockman, Sutskever, D'Angelo, OpenAI's previous board consisted of entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, director of strategy at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, Altman, OpenAI, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, Adam D'Angelo, Mira Murati, Greg Brockman, Greg, Ilya Sutskever, Sutskever, Ilya, Brockman, D'Angelo, OpenAI's, Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, Akanksha, Krystal Hu, Sayantani Ghosh, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Microsoft, U.S . Treasury, Reuters, Georgetown's Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Thomson Locations: OpenAI, Bengaluru, New York, San Francisco

☆ A former OpenAI board member says Sam Altman's firing wasn't 'motivated by a desire to slow down OpenAI's work'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Former OpenAI board member Helen Toner has announced her resignation. Toner said that the board wasn't trying to slow down OpenAI's work by firing CEO Sam Altman. AdvertisementFormer OpenAI board member Helen Toner says the board wasn't trying to stifle the company's progress by removing CEO Sam Altman. Though there has been speculation, we were not motivated by a desire to slow down OpenAI’s work. AdvertisementAside from bringing back Altman, OpenAI welcomed a new initial board comprising Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo.

Persons: Helen Toner, Toner, Sam Altman, Altman, —, wasn't, OpenAI, Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, Adam D'Angelo, Taylor, Tasha McCauley, Ilya Sutskever . Organizations: Service, Georgetown University's Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Microsoft, Business Insider Locations: OpenAI's

☆ Bedrock exec questions, without evidence, if a former OpenAI board member is a Chinese agent
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

After Sam Altman's ouster, many are wondering why OpenAI board members booted him. Bedrock Capital's founder, an OpenAI investor, is more concerned with a board member's background. Geoff Lewis said, without offering evidence, he thinks an ex-board member's ties to China should be examined. Instead of debating Toner's reason to oust Altman, Lewis said the "right set of questions" should be aimed at her background. AdvertisementToner, along with Tasha McCauley, the only two female board members of OpenAI, were removed from the board following their votes to vacate Altman from his role as CEO.

Persons: Sam Altman's, Geoff Lewis, —, Sam Altman, Altman, Helen Toner, Lewis, Toner, CNBC's Rebecca Quick, Tasha McCauley Organizations: Service, Chinese Communist Party, CNBC, Oxford University's Center, Twitter, US Social, Foreign Affairs, Bedrock, Business, The New York Times, Microsoft Locations: China, OpenAI, Beijing

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