WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR AI?
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who has emerged as the face of the artificial intelligence revolution, was ousted Friday after the board said it had lost confidence in his ability to lead the company, which built the pioneering AI chatbot chatGPT.
Altman’s ouster, which is effective immediately, follows “a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities,” the board said in a blog post Friday.
Chief technology officer Mira Murati will serve as interim CEO and a search is underway to identify a permanent successor, the blog post said.
Altman’s departure sent shock waves through the technology industry and the halls of government, where Altman had become a familiar presence in debates over regulation of AI.
In Silicon Valley, Altman has long been known as a smart investor and supporter of smaller companies, but the rise of OpenAI catapulted him into the league of tech titans such as Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and even the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs. As recently as Thursday, Altman was acting the CEO part, speaking onstage at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco. Last week, he presented a new road map for OpenAI to big applause from hundreds of developers at the company’s first major conference.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Altman wrote: “I loved my time at Openai. It was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. Most of all I loved working with such talented people. Will have more to say about what’s next later.”
Though Altman was one of the company’s founders, he has said he does not own any shares of OpenAI. His wealth is based on his investments in other tech companies, including Reddit and business software company Asana. While CEO of OpenAI, Altman continued to make investments in other companies such as nuclear fusion company Helion and AI hardware start-up Humane.
The wording of the blog post and the confidence that Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest investor and business partner, has shown in the company in recent weeks suggests that Altman’s departure is related to him, rather than problems with the broader business, said Rowan Curran, an AI industry analyst with research firm Forrester.
“I see this as a CEO change at a large technology company, but I don’t see this at this point as a fundamental change in OpenAI’s approach, their direction, their technology,” Curran said.
The blog post also said Greg Brockman, one of OpenAI’s co-founders, would step down from his role as board chair but remain at the company.
Launched as a nonprofit in 2015, OpenAI was created in large part to keep advanced artificial intelligence out of the hands of monopolistic corporations. But since accepting a major investment from Microsoft in 2019, the company has transitioned to a novel for-profit structure. OpenAI often says it is still pursuing its original goal of building AI that “benefits all of humanity.” But its path forward lately looks more like business as usual.
In May, the company began a hiring spree, poaching executives from Meta, Apple and Amazon Web Services. Around the same time, Altman zipped around the globe, visiting world leaders and developers in dozens of cities, including Tel Aviv and Doha, Qatar, one-upping Zuckerberg’s 2017 tour of America. Last month, the company expanded its footprint in San Francisco, subleasing nearly 445,000 square feet of office space from Uber, purchased when then-CEO Travis Kalanick was still the most envied founder in the Valley. It also opened a new office in London.
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Pretty staggering news, all things considered, Mark. Extremely interested to see who replaces him.
Interesting and thank you for sharing.
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Same here Richard "RB" Botto and it looks like a battle is brewing in this inductry. Have a great weekend!
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My pleasure Asmaa Jamil and have a wonderful weekend.
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Certainly does. You too, Mark.
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4445,0000 SQ Feet of real estate when AI can be accessed anywhere remotely? Microsoft always had fingers in pies but reckon something is brewing amongst white collar warring factions. I’m not business minded, just see things as a humanitarian picture. Why think it could be kept from corporate giants in the first place. The ethos keep it for greater good is cool but AI’s not an exact science. You can’t bottle it up for a select few. Far from being a tangible product it can infinitely morph & some computer geek is probably twiddling thumbs right now into the ether gaining more answers for businesses.
Thank you Richard "RB" Botto
I totally agree with you Debbie Croysdale
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AI is entering its rationalisation era. We have all seen the “catch the wave”messages. So many people stating the warnings “if you don’t adopt it, you’ll be left behind”. This is just a piece of tech that now needs to be monetised. Big business has been using as they have found a way of monetising it.
This AI for all isn’t a big money strategy. I remember someone from SalesForce telling me that the NSW Government would be able to close all their Service NSW branches as AI would be replacing all the customer service officers in three years. That was five years ago and this year the government open more centres.
AI is the new shiny thing. I remember when Social Media was going to force the closure of all NEWS agencies. While that was happening, Murdoch become one the richest and most powerful people on the planet using the NEWS Network. I will be interested to see the market segment that they manage to carve out for the tech. It will have to solve a real world problem while not breaking any laws, such as copyright, privacy or contravening any regulator legislation.
Do you think Ai is changing the way people are writing and or will write in the future? Craig D Griffiths Debbie Croysdale Richard "RB" Botto Asmaa Jamil
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There's actually a lot more going on there... Brockman already quit (so did several top researchers, with more giving a warning that they too will leave, unless Altman is brought back, including Murati herself), and since Microsoft execs (who own 49% of OpenAI were basically left in the dark until this move took place, they are also pushing for Altman's return.
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if you invested $ in Microsoft stocks a year ago, you would've made 150% ROI.
Dont know how new leadership gonna affect the creative field, but my conspiracy theory belief is the US military will benefit most with new leaders.
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Definitely already happening in some instances, Mark Deuce. As I like to say, those who stand in the way of emerging technology get run over. With the right bumpers in place, I believe most writers will use AI as another tool in the shed.
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@Mark Re:- Will AI change how we write? In a word for majority of writers “NO.” That does not mean I see AI as a kind of hostile sorcery but as RB states another tool in the box. Many of us are hard wired to have full control over what we write & although some jumped to using AI I can never see it taking over the human elements. Limited by their training model, bots have no history, family, voice or background & lack the je ne sais quoi for a unique take.
Writing is not a purely an analytical process, we can write intuitively whereas AI looks for patterns. Depending on each programmer AI may contain unintentional bias EG Generic box ticking differences, norms for search & results vary and also possible tech flaws. I’m learning about AI cos “it’s here” but no fan.
One bot broke down film Avatar. First mistake 2 separate studies for Jake & Jake Sully who are same person. I’d never use AI for script reading but regards to sifting piles prior it’s useful if employer looks for something very specific, (eg Horror, Spooky girl, set on a farm,) to sift possible matches in hours what may take days.
Whilst I don’t think it will drastically change writers who were already writing it has changed lives of previously “non writers.” Scrolling social media recently at least 2 who admitted to never having written one word before now make regular money with AI generated content. Will any be best sellers?
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That is spot-on Richard "RB" Botto that Ai is and will become a major go to tool in the shed of many creatives. I really believe we are just touching the tiip of the iceberg and the big question is. Will this replace creatives in the future? That is a great question most cannot answer. No matter what, the future looks amazing for those who can embrace this major transition happening right now. Have a wonderful week.
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Thank you so much Oren Shved for the update and their is something big happening at openAi and for us as creatives, the future could not be brighter. Cheers
Thank you Dan MaxXx
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Yes but, if you do not add this tool to your toolbox Debbie Croysdale this could leave you and many out there at a big disadvantage. For instance, could Ai help you with your writing as a Co-Author? I believe it already is for many. Cheers
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Hi @Mark Yeah agree to keep AI in tool box, as I said it’s good for preemptive sifting of mass files for specifics but other than that or auto check personally I’d not like programmes to reign over my own mind. Not knocking those who take advantage of AI just saying it’s not for everyone. The whole creative process is a big passion & I’m not looking for quick or easy fixes. AI’s constantly perfecting, even so I don’t wish to become redundant in solving meaty plots or story asyndetons for myself. Can’t remember where but a while back someone put out AI stories & authored ones asking which are which, 98% readers guessed correctly. LOL Might be cool to do that experiment here!
Well said Debbie Croysdale and that is a great idea!
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AI platforms such as Perplexity, ProWritingAid, Jenni are all tools writers need to have at their disposal moving forward. Those who do not embrace this tech will get left behind, it's that simple. AI that's out there now is at its most primitive, it will only get better, and those who know how to harness it wisely will also get better. IMHO.
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I totally agree with you Matt Watters
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Matt Watters Agree completely and have been lecturing about just that for the past two years. There is a tendency to look at the current state as a constant. That's definitely not the case here.
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Agree, Mark Deuce and great points Matt Watters. Instead of worrying about what might be, embrace what is.