• Jay@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      He was fired due to some discrepancy. Nadella said directly that he didn’t like it. And when he can’t use his 49% to bring Altman back, he hires him himself.

      Without sarcasm: that makes total sense to me.

  • SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today
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    8 months ago

    Real bonehead move on behalf of the OpenAI board. The guy is emergency fired in what is basically a shock to everybody including him, then the company panics and realizes they just lost their star racehorse and starts talking about getting him back. It’s fucking brain dead. When they fired him, he probably had a hundred job offers before he even made it down to the lobby. Even if whatever he did is truly awful, any company with AI ambitions would kill to have him on their payroll.

    MS did well executing quickly here. They took a perfect opportunity to onboard an experienced AI team for pennies vs. what buying the rest of OpenAI would cost. And whatever Sam and his team build next is going to be 100% theirs. Wouldn’t be surprised if there’s an open job offer for OpenAI employees looking to follow Altman, with the promise of essentially unlimited resources to develop whatever and respect from management. For a talented AI researcher that’s a tempting offer.

    • BreakDecks@lemmy.ml
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      8 months ago

      It will also be interesting to see if Altman ends up demonstrating the dishonest behavior at Microsoft that he’s been accused of at OpenAI, with the former inheriting the mess that those who expelled him from the latter were hoping to avoid. His reputation and other endeavors, especially WorldCoin, don’t really give me much confidence in him, personally.

      • ChrisLicht@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        I like your take. Altman is a Valley hustler, albeit a talented one who ran YC. But, he’s not technologist or a theorist, and I suspect he’s not that interested in attempting to de-risk AGI anymore, particularly now that he’s experienced the market hype. The staff who want to be billionaires clotted to him; the staff who are committed to the original ethical vision stuck with Ilya.

    • ButtDrugs@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Sam probably still controls a ton of shares, so I think effectively this would give them >50% of shares as long as they are partnering.

          • silencioso@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Not really if you have to divide resources between two. Computing necessary for training these models is not cheap and there is an obvious opportunity cost here.

            • Pons_Aelius@kbin.social
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              8 months ago

              MS has more than enough cash and resources to back two horses.

              Computing necessary for training this models is not cheap and there is an obvious opportunity cost here.

              This also gives them the luxury of trying a different approach.

              • silencioso@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                Time will tell my guess is that Microsoft will sale its stake in openai or just drain openai from resources and people until it will disappear.

            • NounsAndWords@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              I have no idea what MS is doing with AI internally, but predictive text is only one of the avenues towards AGI which sure seems to be the direction OpenAI (and everyone else currently looking to sell a product) are going. There are certainly other directions MS can go in the same field without putting all their eggs in one basket.

      • Melt@lemm.ee
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        If OpenAI wanted to sell out, they wouldn’t have fired Altman

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        8 months ago

        They’re only 2% short of being able to do that. I think Microsoft has a 49% stake.

        • SuperDuper@lemmy.world
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          Sam has to own at least a percent or two. Even if he doesn’t bring enough shares to the table to give Microsoft the edge they need, I’m guessing he’s friendly enough with a few shareholders to get them the rest of the way.

      • httpjames@sh.itjust.works
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        8 months ago

        As much as I’d love to see them back in OpenAI, I don’t think Emmett Shear will give up.

        I have a soft spot for Greg since he was the one who introduced the world to GPT 4 on that developer livestream

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        That’s got to be the lowest effort generic name in existence. “Ah just shift one of the letters to the start and let’s knock off early”

      • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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        8 months ago

        Just like cereal companies with name brands like fruit loops will make fruit spins. Why not take profit on the lower end of the market?

        • TheGreenGolem@lemm.ee
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          8 months ago

          And there are many other examples too.

          A lot of car manufacturers have brands for the upper class. Like Mercedes -> Maybach, Toyota -> Lexus, Seat -> Cupra. And tyre manufacturers have lower-end brands, like Michelin -> Kleber. Or, even better: a lot of store budget brands for milk, cheese, sausages etc. are manufactured by a big name brand, it’s right on the packaging with the little letters at the bottom. (Manufactured by: XYZ Big Name Brand Ltd.)

          • ChrisLicht@lemm.ee
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            8 months ago

            I had a teacher in high school, many decades ago, who had owned an orange juice processor. He explained that the generic store brand got the start and end of production runs; name brand got the middle.

            • Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip
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              Orange juice in particular is a very brand loyalty specific one because oranges naturally do not have a consistent flavor. The main distinguishing flavor between different brands is an additive each brand puts in to make it taste more like their brand of orange juice.

    • higgs@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Pretty sure Sam and Greg got A LOT of money to get „convinced“ to start at Microsoft

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        Even if you start dreaming up ludicrous salaries/options, the cost to hire them would be only a fraction of the hit Microsoft would take in the market if not for this play. Satya could comfortably let them name their price and say yes to anything.

        This hand was played well by Satya.

        • JeffKerman1999@sopuli.xyz
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          Yep, Google is paying the price of having bard being a late comer and Facebook is scrambling to pivot from VR to AI. Everyone is now in this text prediction business and it looks like the bubble will explode even faster than NFTs

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            8 months ago

            Bard is improving very quickly. It’s quicker to respond and gives a better response than ChatGPT a lot of the time. This drama will mean serious trouble for OpenAI.

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            Let me know when we get there. We are far from it yet. I will more than likely measure the burst when it’s removed from MS Office and MS stops making their own chips…But for now it’s full steam ahead into MS NFT’s

      • Lauchs@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Truth. Though, OpenAI was valued around 80 billion, I’d be reasonably surprised if either of them was being offered a billion.

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      This guy is a former (and current) crypto bro who just pivoted to the next tech buzzword. This shit was never gonna be a benefit to humanity.

      • some_designer_dude@lemmy.world
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        Yeah, that’s some next level naïveté thinking Silicon Valley gives any fucks about anything other than number-go-up. Yikes.

        The advent of AI feels more like the beginning of what will probably end in revolution… The bloody kind. They’re going to replace as many humans as they possibly can until the masses get hungry enough to finally eat the rich.

  • YⓄ乙 @aussie.zone
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    8 months ago

    I dont understand why these guys taking another 9-5 job. They already have all the money in the world. Just go travel, enjoy life but no these guys want to be bound by a clock and a manager. Lol

    • Ithi@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      Some people just want power and recognition which you don’t get if you just travel and enjoy life.

      I could also so it being pretty exciting being at the forefront of a new technology and wanting to put all the things you’ve learned or been researching to use vs just quitting and feeling like you’re wasting that time you’ve put in. Probably doesn’t feel like a job if this is the case.

      • YⓄ乙 @aussie.zone
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        Yea I know a guy at work, he been here from past 18 years. He starts at 7:30am and finishes after 6pm. At first I thought may be he’s working but now its been more than 1year. He genuinely enjoys sitting in the office. Poor fella is divorced and have no friends but enjoys the little power of position he has at work. Lol

        • rab@lemmy.ca
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          Ya there’s a guy like that at my work too, he gets mad when he’s forced to spend his vacation days. Love asking him when he gets back if he had a nice vacation, always get a hard no

          And my work is super boring, mostly solving server errors, barely any human interaction at all

    • Copernican@lemmy.world
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      Being a CEO for a company like this isn’t being “bound” to “the clock” of a “9 to 5 job.” It’s a lifestyle choice for sure, and an aspiration for an even greater lifestyle. But they aren’t bound.

      • YⓄ乙 @aussie.zone
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        CEO has to report to the board. So technically “board” is the manager.

        Also in Sam Altmans case , he joined Microsoft so now he is more like “manager” who report to the director and director reports to CEO. Lol the pyramid sounds not so fun.

    • locuester@lemmy.zip
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      Some people, me included, really love our work. It isn’t related to power (for me), just pure enjoyment.

        • locuester@lemmy.zip
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          8 months ago

          Software engineering. Currently in the defi industry, but historically a dozen of different industries.

          • YⓄ乙 @aussie.zone
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            Damn I dont know how you guys do it. I can’t even sit straight for one hour staring at a PC and you guys stretch it to 10-12 hours. All I can say is that any company to have guys like you is really lucky.

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                How… unrelatable.

                Don’t get me wrong, I find satisfaction in what I do. At a certain point, though, given the resources I’d like to work on my own projects.

                Maybe that is what these guys dream about with AI so I can’t knock them. Just seems too involved.

                • locuester@lemmy.zip
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                  Part of it is what you said, “work on my own projects”. That’s what I feel I’m doing. While I don’t legally “own” the software product I’m building (usually), there is still a strong sense of ownership I feel when I’m building software. I want it to be perfect, something I am proud of. A masterpiece. And I spend embarrassingly large amounts of time perfecting and researching.

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    Microsoft slept on phones and tablets, they are not sleeping on AI. And good! Software has always been Microsoft’s superpower.

    gets the popcorn

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    OpenAI shot themselves in the legs with a 12-gauge shotgun when they fired Sam Altman and Greg Brockman.

    Expect Microsoft Copilot to eclipse ChatGPT.

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      The Board though is unlikely to face any personal consequences though. 3 out of the 4 of them are CEOs of their own companies, with the fourth being OpenAI’s chief scientist.

      Regardless, this move will very much tank OpenAI since now the advantage is in Microsoft’s court.

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        I see this a lot, but two people, especially those not doing the work, do not make a company. They started something great, but hundreds of talented people have been driving the ship for a long time now.

        • Gork@lemm.ee
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          8 months ago

          The scientist was the ringleader around the effort of ousting Altman, apparently.

    • Wooki@lemmy.world
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      Doubt it very much. Alt-man is just a grifter and the limits have been reached for the word predictor. The only thing Microsoft has been doing is hype and pissing off customers with it.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Microsoft has hired OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to head up a “new advanced AI research team,” the software conglomerate’s chief Satya Nadella said Monday, capping three days of intense discussions following the unexpected decision by OpenAI’s board to dismiss Altman.

    Nadella said Altman and Brockman will be joined by “colleagues,” suggesting that Microsoft is also hiring many other people who left OpenAI over the weekend.

    “We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success,” said Nadella, in what many tech entrepreneurs labelled as an example of “incredible execution.”

    Nadella, whose firm has invested over $10 billion in OpenAI and acquired almost 50% ownership, said the Windows-maker remains committed to the startup.

    The decision comes after a tumultuous weekend that saw Altman removed from his role at OpenAI by the organization’s board on Friday.

    “The board had a chance to explain their drastic actions and they did not take it,” wrote Andrej Karpathy, a research scientist at OpenAI, on X.


    The original article contains 387 words, the summary contains 169 words. Saved 56%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

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    Good to know Microsoft has no qualms with hiring someone being accused of raping their own sister…

    Capitalism - no morals, only profit!

      • Infiltrated_ad8271@kbin.social
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        8 months ago

        Regarding the alleged rape, in short: The sexual acts are not even explicitly stated and allegedly occurred when she was young enough to barely be able to remember or understand anything, she went decades without saying a word to anyone about it. Then they have a dispute over an inheritance, and a couple of years later when he becomes famous she publicly accuses him, without providing evidence or reporting him to the courts.

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          I have not read her accusations but I don’t think your criticism is really valid.

          You can’t publicly accuse someone if neither of you is a public figure. It just doesn’t work that way. You need a platform that comes after at least one of the parties is famous.

          Also, testimony from the victim is evidence. In the case of old sexual assault cases, it’s quite often the only evidence. But if all you have is fuzzy memories from decades ago, you know that’s not going to get you anywhere in court so why would you even attempt a legal claim?

          The fact that an ostensible child sexual assault victim does not have additional evidence, or does not file a police report or civil suit, shouldn’t be used to discount their claims.

          • Infiltrated_ad8271@kbin.social
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            …? In my comment I literally said that she did it when he became famous.

            The testimony of the accusers is not evidence, it can be evidence. To be so, it must be supported by sufficient circumstantial evidence to convince the courts.

            It is true that reporting old cases is difficult, but it is often done successfully, and is the only way to obtain true justice. That someone is willing to go through the pain of public exposure but won’t even try it in court doesn’t prove anything, but it is very suspicious.
            Especially if doing so publicly not only fails to state evidence or claim to have evidence, but doesn’t even make the accusations explicit; it looks like an attempt to avoid being sued.

            It is not that I wish to discredit her pseudo-statements, but it is important that people understand how little there is, because every time his name appears on the internet there is a tough campaign of harassment by people who just parrot it.