Sam Altman’s Firing at OpenAI Was Ineffective Effective Altruism
This is a short snippet of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a come-to-Jesus moment about the nonzero possibility of AI killing Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions, by Jessica Karl . To get the full version of this newsletter in your inbox daily, sign up here .
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My Cup Runneth Over
Hmmmm:
This past weekend, leaders of two companies went viral for doing things they’ve never done before. One was the president of a water bottle company. The others were board members of an AI research firm. Both camps probably considered their actions to be altruistic, but they couldn’t be farther apart in terms of effectiveness:
Let’s start with Stanley . If you’ve spent a minute on WaterTok this year, you’ll know that these brightly colored on-the-go mugs are a millennial favorite . Loyal customers have multiple vessels for different circumstances — one for the gym, one for the office, one for the nightstand. Some even keep one in the car, like this woman who needed to retrieve her cup after her vehicle caught on fire :
“Everybody is so concerned about if the Stanley spills,” she says. “But what about if it melts? It was on fire yesterday and it still has ice in it,” she exclaims while jingle jangling around her mug. If true, it’s a perfect endorsement for a product that’s “Built for Life.” And Terence Reilly, the president of Stanley, knew that : “We’ve never done this before, and we’ll probably never do it again … but we’d love to replace your vehicle,” he said in a response video. The level of publicity from this single TikTok — which has now been seen by over 80 million people — is on par with that of a Super Bowl commercial. A $35,000 Kia Sorento is the least Stanley can do, really. But even when taking into account the marketing serendipity of it all, this is an act of altruism, plain and simple.
Which brings me to OpenAI . Late Friday, the board surprised the world by firing its co-founder and chief executive officer Sam Altman. “Apparently the board felt that Altman was moving too aggressively to commercialize OpenAI’s products like ChatGPT, and worried that this speed of commercialization raised the risk of creating a rogue artificial intelligence that would, you know, murder or enslave humanity,” Matt Levine writes . The decision completely blindsided investors and staffers, resulting in an ugly tug-of-war. By Monday afternoon, more than 700 of OpenAI’s 770 employees threatened to quit en masse if the board didn’t resign.
Microsoft reportedly got “just a few minutes notice” before the initial announcement went out, despite having plowed billions of dollars into the company. You’d expect high-profile investors to have some say in the matter, but “the board has no legal or fiduciary obligation to listen to them or do what they want,” Matt explains. Really, the only leverage they do have is money, which now that Microsoft has poached Altman, might end up being enough, he notes: “If everyone quits to join Sam Altman at Microsoft , then what is the point of continuing to control OpenAI?” Just take one look at the share price of Microsoft and you’ll know the answer:
“Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella must think he is dreaming: Over the course of one whiplashy weekend, he went from watching the company’s $10 billion investment in OpenAI become jeopardized to managing to make the software giant’s position in AI look even stronger,” Dave Lee writes .
Although the motives that drove the board of directors to make this decision remain a mystery, some speculate that it stems from their belief of Effective Altruism — the same religion that eventually brought down Sam Bankman-Fried. Tyler Cowen has previously said that EA “judges people and their choices by daring to ask if they add to the sum of human happiness.” That tracks with OpenAI’s website , which says “the Nonprofit’s principal beneficiary is humanity, not OpenAI investors.” If the board were to, say, have a come-to-Jesus moment about the nonzero possibility of AI killing us all, they’d fire Sam and his OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman in order to save humanity.
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But we’re not living in a sci-fi movie. “AI is no more dangerous than the many other existential risks facing humanity,” Tyler argues . We’re just as likely to die from supervolcanoes or stray asteroids or nuclear war or the ratpocalypse , if Faye Flam ’s latest column is any indication. Plus, letting Sam and his army of heart emojis go doesn’t actually stop him from doing “evil” stuff, if that’s what people are scared about. As Matt says: “If your main worry is that Sam Altman is going to build a rogue AI unless he is checked by a nonprofit board, this weekend’s events did not improve matters!” For people who preach the principles altruism, it doesn’t appear to be all that effective. Maybe the Stanley president needs to join the board instead.
Further Reading
The new bank capital plan has some major flaws. — Bloomberg’s editorial board
Elon Musk’s X drama is hurting Tesla where it matters the most. — Liam Denning
Want to help Gaza? Send America’s floating hospitals to the war-torn area. — Admiral James Stavridis
The Federal Reserve needs to shut its pie hole. — Mohamed El-Erian
A cornerstone of Europe's petrochemical industry is nearing a 50-year low. — Javier Blas
The West Bank was already a dystopia for Palestinians. Israel is making matters worse. — Ruth Pollard
What if we had a new cold war — and we were the Soviets ? — Niall Ferguson
Israel’s attack on Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital is likely legal , but it’s heartbreaking. — Jill Goldenziel, FCIArb
Today’s “violent” Congress would make Civil War-era lawmakers laugh. — Stephen Mihm
André 3000’s flute album is exactly what hip-hop is about. — A.D. Carson
Notes: Please send Ultimate Endless Shrimp and feedback to Jessica Karl at [email protected] .
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Innovation Science Pioneer. 42 Granted Patents. Prof. of Engineering. A man with a vision who says what he does, does what he plans, plans what he believes, believes what he says.
1 年Sam Altman's removal presents a unique opportunity for #OpenAI to do away with blind capability growth led by Sam, and reconstruct itself with Human-Enhancement AI rather than Human-Replacement AI. Companies like BitMint working on AI Assisted Innovation cannot find human capital to move forward because of the craze for human replacement, human confinement machines.
Technical Account Manager
1 年In the midst of Chaos, there is also opportunity. Sun Tzu - the Art of War https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/galliot_the-way-of-the-microsoft-activity-7132529674068398080-0V3K?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop