In the days after Sam Altman was abruptly fired from the OpenAI board of directors, the news caused a stir in the tech world, with employees within the company and many in the tech world even likening the move to a coup.
Immediately after Altman was fired, word spread that the wider OpenAI staff liked him and were shocked by his sudden dismissal. It's an erratic move for a board that puts ideology ahead of stakeholder demands and employee wishes.
But in the past few weeks, more details about the drama have emerged, shedding more light on the board's decision to fire Altman.
These new details reveal that Altman is a sophisticated corporate schemer who manipulates the behavior and perceptions of people inside OpenAI to maintain his power and status, but his tactics rubbed many within the organization the wrong way. people.
01
Ultraman VS Tona
When the OpenAI board of directors first announced the news of Altman's dismissal on November 17, it caused shock in the technology community and employees at large. However, the board of directors did not give much explanation at the time, except that he was not candid enough in his communications with the board.
However, as more details are revealed, we find that things are not as simple as they seem. Altman reportedly engaged in some divisive behavior among board members, particularly those who disagreed with his release of radical artificial intelligence technology. Considering the potential threat of this technology to humans, OpenAI has been nervously discussing how to develop AI technology cautiously since its inception.
In one example, Altman didn't always see eye-to-eye with board member Helen Toner. In October, Toner published a paper at a Georgetown University think tank in which she praised OpenAI competitor Anthropic for delaying the release of chatbot Claude and criticized ChatGPT for "cutting corners" in its release.
Altman called Toner when he learned of the incident, saying it might draw more attention to OpenAI from the Federal Trade Commission, which was already investigating it. Toner offered to apologize to the OpenAI board, but Altman later personally emailed OpenAI executives to tell them that he had reprimanded Toner. “I feel like we don’t see eye-to-eye on the harm this could cause,” he wrote in an email.
Such a conflict may have led Altman to sow seeds of suspicion between Toner and another board member, Tasha McCauley. Altman called other board members to tell them Macaulay wanted Toner off the board, people familiar with the matter said. But McCauley later said she only became aware of the incident when asked about it by board members, saying "there was absolutely no such thing."
02
Ultraman VS Sultzkeifer
Altman also has a tense relationship with Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s chief scientist and former board member. The roots of this tension lie largely in ideological differences.
According to people familiar with the matter, within OpenAI, Sutskefer is regarded as an artificial intelligence "dreamer" with academic thinking, but this trait has not been warmly welcomed by engineers like Altman. Sutskefer is worried that Altman is pushing OpenAI to develop technology too quickly and hopes to take a more cautious approach.
As time went on, Sützkefer also grew frustrated with being "squeezed out of decisions about ChatGPT-5" and plans to expand the product and company.
Tensions came to a head in October when Altman promoted a researcher to Sutskefer's level. Sutskefer viewed this as a challenge to his position at the company and protested to other board members that he might resign. Board members believe this may require them to choose between Sutzkefer and Altman.
03
Ultraman VS Others
Some of OpenAI’s six board members view Altman as less than candid and even calculating. Most of these board members are rumored to have backgrounds in nonprofits or academia, so they may not be as sympathetic to Altman's "move fast and break things" strategy as a technology executive.
"They felt Altman had lied," said a person familiar with the board's discussions. They were so worried about Altman's tactics and connections that when they began discussing firing him, they decided to do so in secrecy. "It was clear that once Altman found out, he would do whatever he could to undermine the board's decision," the person said.
In addition, people familiar with the matter also revealed that two days after Altman was fired, Sutskefer said in a meeting with OpenAI employees that one explanation he received from the board of directors was that Altman made a suggestion to a member of the company. two different opinions. Furthermore, Ultraman is said to have given the same project to two different people in the company.
04
Lessons Learned: Reshape Your Image
Altman did have a dispute with the board before his ouster, which he himself has not denied. Less than two weeks after his dismissal, he wrote on It is important to learn through experience and apply those experiences to the growth of our company. I welcome the Board’s independent review of all recent events. I am deeply grateful to Toner and McCauley for their contributions to OpenAI.”
Although Altman has not publicly addressed accusations that he is difficult to work with, in an interview with Trevor Noah last week, he admitted that boards need to pay more attention to the safety of artificial intelligence. "I'm glad to have a second chance to do all these things right that we obviously got wrong before," he told Noah.
Altman's dismissal was brief, a sign of the support he had from the wider organization. This triggered a wave of heart-shaped emoticons posted by OpenAI executives on social media, and employees also issued open letters of support and even threatened to resign if he was not reinstated. However, not everyone supports Ultraman.
As early as last fall, several senior leaders of OpenAI came to the board of directors with dissatisfaction with Altman. They believe Ultraman could disrupt OpenAI's workflow. People, including those who manage large teams, also say Altman pits employees against each other in problematic ways.
The comments prompted the board to review Altman's conduct as CEO. One employee told the board that after he shared his criticisms with Altman, Altman became "hostile" toward him and continued to disparage him within his team.
The fact that Altman was reinstated as CEO in the short term also suggests the accusations may not be enough for his powerful backers, such as Microsoft.
Disclaimer: This article comes from Tencent News Client