Sam Altman tried to push out another board member at OpenAI but ended up losing the battle and getting ousted himself from the company he co-founded and led for several years.
What Happened: Altman's ouster from the Microsoft Corp.-backed (NASDAQ:MSFT) OpenAI was the result of a boardroom battle between him and another member over philosophical and academic differences.
According to a report by the New York Times, Altman and board member Helen Toner had disagreements in a debate that is popular in the AI industry — safety versus acceleration.
See Also: ‘We Have A Plan': Leaked OpenAI Memo Calls For Unity Even As Over 95% Employees Want Sam Altman Back
In other words, it was a battle between two ideologies — Effective Altruism (EA) and Effective Accelerationism, often known as "EA" and "e/acc" in AI communities and on social media.
At the center of this saga is a research paper that Toner authored — she openly criticized OpenAI's approach to AI development as far as safety is concerned while praising rival Anthropic, which was founded in 2021 by former senior members of OpenAI, siblings Daniela and Dario Amodei.
While Altman called out Toner for criticizing the company publicly while the Federal Trade Commission was investigating it over data usage, Toner reportedly defended it by saying it was simply academic commentary.
See Also: Sam Altman To Return As OpenAI CEO As New Board Collaborating ‘To Figure Out Details'
Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's chief scientist, was also initially opposed to Toner's paper but later ended up switching sides and leading a "palace coup" against Altman.
He eventually switched sides again and expressed regret for ousting Altman and bringing OpenAI to the brink of being torn apart.
Beyond Altman And Toner: It was not just an Altman vs. Toner battle – according to veteran journalist Kara Swisher, there were others at OpenAI who wanted Toner off the board.
"The tension between Helen Toner and Sam Altman seemed more academic and philosophical, but many sources tell me he and others in the company definitely wanted her off the board in the weeks prior," Swisher said.
More on OpenAI: The tension between Helen Toner and Sam Altman seemed more academic and philosophical, but many sources tell me he and others in the company definitely wanted her off the board in the weeks prior.
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) November 22, 2023
Another board member, Tasha McCauley, also thought along the same lines as Toner. She used "apocalyptic" terms, feared AI, and wanted to be selective about who can and cannot have access to the technology, according to Swisher.
The issues with Tasha McCauley are deeper and, as described to me by many sources, she has used very apocalyptic terms for her fears of the tech itself and who should and should not have their "fingers on the button." Think Terminator with a dash of Time Cop (BEST. MOVIE. EVER.) pic.twitter.com/4ueYoHPD7u
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) November 22, 2023
This is also called "AI doomer" in internet slang amongst AI enthusiasts.
After a few days of intense drama, though, Altman seems to have emerged victorious – he is all set to return as the OpenAI CEO.
OpenAI has also decided to form a new board comprising Bret Taylor and former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, in addition to Quora co-founder and CEO Adam D'Angelo, who retained his board seat.
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