Visitor Altman Appears at OpenAI Headquarters in San Francisco, Does the Board Change Their Minds and Refuse to Resign? What Is the Current Situation? How Will the Event Continue to Develop?

OpenAI Employees Support Altman’s Opposition to the Board’s Resignation

Sharing a tweet from an OpenAI employee:

Translated, it says: The CEO of Salesforce said that any OpenAI employee who resigns and joins Salesforce will have all their package and equity matched immediately. From the offer itself, it is indeed a good offer. However, the OpenAI employees remained firmly loyal to Sam and Greg. Most of the employees at OpenAI are top researchers in this field. Many of them were already earning annual salaries of five to six hundred thousand dollars or more before joining OpenAI. They joined OpenAI not necessarily for the money, but for the sense of purpose and mission to achieve AGI that unites them.

For those who don’t know Salesforce, just take a look at the company’s market value, which is 219 billion dollars.

OpenAI is valued at only a few hundred billion dollars.

This offer is quite generous.

However, the OpenAI employees have mostly chosen to continue working with Altman and Greg.

Even some employees who have lost their jobs and face difficulties with visa renewals have decided to stand with the board.

OpenAI has around 750 employees, and currently, 715 employees have chosen to support Sam and demand the collective resignation of the current board.

If the board does not step down, OpenAI may end up with only a few janitors and similar staff.

It must be said that Sam’s personal charisma is truly remarkable, and the employees are truly devoted to working with him.

Sam has a genuine emotional attachment to OpenAI.

The Vanguard of the Workers' Class Power

This group of board members has been working in the tech industry, where there are no unions, for too long, and they don’t understand the power of collective bargaining…

It’s time to give them a little shock from the workers' class.

And this is not like the UAW that just seeks to make a living, this is the real vanguard team, who dare to confront head-on. I can only say that I admire them for being true men (laughing).

OpenAI Former CEO Sam Altman Returns to the Company

Providing more information for our friends:

Negotiations at an impasse! “Visitor” Sam Altman appears at OpenAI headquarters in San Francisco, board of directors backtracks on resignation refusal

After a weekend of continued speculation, on November 20th, Beijing time, there were new developments regarding former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s return to the company, amid mounting pressure from several major investors.

According to insider sources cited by Bloomberg, a group of OpenAI executives and investors want Altman to resume his position as CEO, but are at an impasse concerning the composition and roles of the board of directors. Currently, negotiations are still ongoing, and a solution is expected to be reached soon.

On Sunday, November 19th, Pacific time, Altman posted a picture of himself at OpenAI’s headquarters in San Francisco on the social media platform X. However, he was wearing a visitor badge from OpenAI, indicating that his position as CEO and director has not been fully restored.

Altman Hopes to Replace Existing OpenAI Board Members

According to Bloomberg, Greg Altman, who was dismissed on Friday, November 17 in the Pacific Time zone, is open to returning to OpenAI but hopes to see changes in the company’s governance, including the replacement of the current board members. Due to the private nature of the negotiations, the informants requested anonymity. They stated that Altman is also seeking to issue a statement to prove his innocence.

Microsoft CEO Nadella plays a central role in the negotiations between OpenAI’s executives, investors, and board members. It is reported that former co-CEO of Salesforce Inc., Bret Taylor, will join the new board, and another possible addition is a Microsoft executive. However, due to regulatory considerations, it is currently unclear whether Microsoft will have a seat on OpenAI’s board or not.

One informant stated that key leaders within OpenAI are also pushing for the resignation of the company’s board to allow Altman to return. The members on the list include OpenAI’s interim CEO Mira Murati, Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon, and Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap.

During this past weekend, OpenAI’s board received strong condemnation for the dismissal of Altman. Initially, the board members agreed in principle to resign and allow Altman to return to the company. However, they have refused to formally resign and have been reviewing candidates for new board members.

As of Friday, Altman’s dismissal, OpenAI’s board members included OpenAI’s Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, CEO of Quora Adam D’Angelo, former CEO of GeoSim Systems Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner, Strategy Director at Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology.

On November 17 in the Pacific Time zone, the board members, led by OpenAI’s Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, dismissed Altman and stripped him of his board position, citing a lack of transparency in communication with the board. However, less than a day after Altman’s dismissal, investors led by major stakeholders Microsoft and Thrive Capital began pressuring the board to reinstate Altman as CEO.

One long-standing issue that has plagued OpenAI is Altman’s transformation of the organization from a nonprofit into a successful unicorn company, as well as his desire for the company to quickly launch disruptive AI products and sign contracts with clients. This contradicts the concerns of OpenAI board members regarding the safety of AI tools.

The New York Times provided a more in-depth analysis of the tense situation surrounding Altman’s dismissal in a Sunday report, describing it as a result of the conflict between OpenAI’s rapid commercial success and the company’s increased considerations for AI safety.

“Visitor” Altman Appears at OpenAI

As of Sunday noon Pacific Time (November 19th), there are indications that a resolution to the negotiations between Altman and OpenAI may be imminent.

According to sources cited by Bloomberg, Altman appeared at OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters along with Greg Brockman, co-founder and chairman who resigned last Friday. Afterwards, Altman posted on X, “This is my first and last time using this (OpenAI visitor card).” He wore an OpenAI badge that said “Guest 04.”

Image source: X

It is reported that the deadline for the resignation of the OpenAI board of directors is 5 pm Pacific Time on Sunday, and the board has agreed to Altman’s and the investors' demands. According to a person familiar with the negotiations, in order for Altman to return as CEO, the OpenAI board may have to issue a statement exonerating its members for their previous actions. However, the source added that from a legal perspective, the board’s concessions may put its members at a disadvantage.

Insiders close to Altman at OpenAI said that Altman has several very loyal employees, which has also increased his influence at OpenAI. One informant revealed that among his supporters are top research scientists in OpenAI’s intellectual property and contributors to ChatGPT, the core large-scale language model of the chatbot.

Whether Altman returns to OpenAI or not, he has also been working on other ventures, including fundraising for a startup in the chip manufacturing industry and a hardware company focused on artificial intelligence.

In a memo sent to OpenAI employees on November 18th, Chief Operating Officer Brad Leitege said that the decision to dismiss Altman “was not due to any misconduct on his part” or because the company had concerns about finances or security. Leitege wrote, “(Altman’s departure) came as a surprise to all of us. We have had multiple conversations with the board, trying to better understand the reasons and process behind their decision.”

Reported by Cai Ding, reporter for Meijing

Edited by Lan Suying, editor for Meijing

Please contact the editorial office of “Meijing Economic News” for permission to reproduce.

Unauthorized reproduction or mirroring of “Meijing Economic News” is strictly prohibited and violators will be held accountable.

Ultraman joins Microsoft to lead the AI team

The latest news is that Ultraman has joined Microsoft

Microsoft has just announced that OpenAI founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman will join Microsoft.

The two will lead a new Microsoft AI team, indicating that they have made concessions.

Microsoft needs Ultraman to lead a passionate group of people to continue working on AI.

Otherwise, Microsoft’s investment in the AI field would be meaningless.

However, Ultraman is not happy at OpenAI and may not be able to change the organizational structure of OpenAI for a while.

In the end, Ultraman is definitely needed by Microsoft and should not be poached by competitors such as Google or Amazon.

So Ultraman directly joins Microsoft, as Microsoft has always supported Ultraman’s ideas, and Ultraman is willing to do so.

Currently, this outcome is beneficial for both Microsoft and Ultraman.

Let OpenAI continue to develop slowly.

Ultraman previously stated that he needed a new board of directors and governance structure before he would return.

Now there is a group of OpenAI executives and investors supporting Ultraman, and this time Ultraman returns to headquarters as a “visitor”.

But Ultraman’s willingness to return to headquarters shows that he has not given up, and Microsoft has always been supportive of Ultraman.

Starting his own company again would be a last resort for Ultraman.

Ultraman definitely hopes that these shareholders can unite to help him replace the current board members.

He cannot work with the current OpenAI board.

Now Microsoft allows him to come to their AI company directly and become the leader.

This idea is indeed good and breaks the deadlock.

OpenAI’s structure consists of the non-profit entity OpenAI and the for-profit subsidiary OpenAI Global LLC.

It’s like using a non-profit entity to manage a for-profit entity.

This will inevitably restrict some radical ideas.

The majority of the non-profit entity’s directors are members of the public, representing their own values.

They are thinking about the public-oriented direction of AI development, wanting AI to change the world.

Profit-driven managers, on the other hand, must consider profit and financing.

Ultraman has a strong ability to attract investment and has had many collaborations.

And his development direction is very radical, which also conforms to the current trend of AI development.

This is why these shareholders support Ultraman.

Ultraman can maximize the commercial value of OpenAI, and its valuation will continue to rise under his leadership.

OpenAI’s major shareholder Microsoft and investors led by Thrive Capital will help Ultraman by putting pressure on the board of directors.

Mainly because Ultraman is indeed good at attracting investment and has a good understanding of AI commercialization. He is also daring and radical.

Investors naturally hope that OpenAI’s products can always be at the forefront and increase in value.

This is enough to support most investors' support for Ultraman.

Ultraman has essentially transformed OpenAI from a non-profit organization into a successful unicorn enterprise.

Transforming a company that initially wasn’t focused on making money into a money-making machine.

Ultraman wants to quickly launch disruptive AI products and sign contracts with clients.

This is the biggest conflict between Ultraman and the current non-profit organization’s managers.

On one hand, there is commercialization; on the other hand, there are concerns about the safety of AI tools.

If Ultraman ultimately leaves to start his own company, it would be detrimental to Microsoft.

Microsoft invested $13 billion, and Ultraman is a key figure in OpenAI’s commercialization.

If Ultraman completely leaves, Microsoft’s investment may go to waste.

And Ultraman’s departure will also bring a large number of core technology talents. These people followed Ultraman and are his followers.

If they go to rival companies, Microsoft will suffer a great loss.

Rather than letting Ultraman start a business elsewhere, it’s better for him to start from Microsoft.

This has no impact on Microsoft’s AI development, and Ultraman can continue to lead his AI company and pursue his career.

OpenAI may develop slowly in the future, but it can also take a slow development path, which is favored by the OpenAI board.

In any case, Microsoft can allow Ultraman to continue to develop rapidly in his new company, achieving a win-win situation for everyone.

Sam Altman Does Not Return to OpenAI and Joins Microsoft

November 20, 4pm update: Sam Altman does not return to OpenAI and joins Microsoft with Greg to lead a new advanced AI research team.

I Use AI to Generate Images with DALLE

Latest News on November 20

On November 20, during the high-stakes negotiations at OpenAI, a decisive decision was reached: Sam Altman, the co-founder of OpenAI, will no longer serve as CEO. Co-founder and board member Ilya Sutskever announced this decision to all employees on Sunday evening, putting an end to the speculation and efforts of company executives and top investors to reinstate Altman.

I Use AI to Generate Images with DALLE

At the same time, Emmett Shear, the co-founder of popular video streaming website Twitch, has been appointed as the interim CEO, replacing Mira Murati. Murati briefly served in this position after Altman’s dismissal and has been advocating for Altman’s reinstatement since his controversial firing on Friday.

I Use AI to Generate Images with DALLE

Who is Emmett Shear?

Public records show that Emmett Shear previously served as the co-founder and CEO of the livestreaming platform Twitch, until he announced stepping down on March 20 of this year.

Twitch, formerly known as Justin.tv, was a platform where American entrepreneur Justin Kan livestreamed his life around the clock, bringing the platform into the public eye.

In 2004, it was renamed Twitch and began to focus on livestreaming popular games. Three years later, the video website was acquired by Amazon for nearly $1 billion. Shear served as the CEO of Twitch until earlier this year in March.

I Use AI to Generate Images with DALLE

In addition to his work at Twitch, Shear is also a part-time partner at Y Combinator, a well-known American technology startup accelerator. He has been working at Y Combinator since June 2011.

It is worth mentioning that the former CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, served as the President of Y Combinator from 2014 to 2019, and the founding of OpenAI also received funding from Y Combinator. Therefore, Shear should be familiar with OpenAI to some extent.

However, despite graduating from Yale University with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in 2005, Shear does not have outstanding achievements in technology nor any notable reputation in the field of artificial intelligence.

I Use AI to Generate Images with DALLE

All of this has surprised and puzzled people in the tech industry. If the senior researchers at OpenAI do indeed follow Altman in leaving the company, there may only be a few technical personnel left in OpenAI, such as Chief Technical Officer Sutskever and some others who have less understanding of AI technology. This could potentially lead OpenAI to be surrounded by proponents of the “doomsday” view.

Altman Returns to OpenAI as a Visitor

According to reports from Reuters on November 20, citing The Information, despite efforts by company executives to encourage Altman’s return, he will not come back to the position of CEO at OpenAI. Altman posted a photo of himself wearing an OpenAI visitor badge on the social media platform X and wrote, “This is my first and last time wearing such a badge.” This further confirms his decision to leave.

Jason Kwon, the Chief Strategy Officer of OpenAI, also posted a message confirming that Sam has returned to OpenAI.

The board’s decision not to reinstate Altman may worsen the company’s crisis. The crisis began with Altman’s sudden dismissal and the subsequent firing of President Greg Brockman on Friday.

After Altman’s dismissal, Greg resigned, and three senior researchers subsequently resigned as well, sparking concerns about the potential loss of talent to competitors like Google and new companies. This also includes Altman’s planned AI chip-focused startup since his dismissal.

The Conflict in Vision

The underlying reason for this situation, I believe, is the divergence in ideas about the development direction of OpenAI between the two parties.

Recently, under Altman’s leadership, ChatGPT quickly gained popularity, and OpenAI accelerated its commercialization process to fund its non-profit goals through profitability, while no longer being open to the public. Not long ago, Altman revealed in an interview with the Financial Times that GPT-5 is under development, and they plan to raise funds from Microsoft and more investors. He firmly believes that any actions that hinder OpenAI’s progress are unwise.

I Use AI to Generate Images with DALLE

Ilya Sutskever, an Israeli-Canadian, spent his childhood in Jerusalem (he can still speak Russian, Hebrew, and English). Later, he moved to Canada and studied under Geoffrey Hinton at the University of Toronto. Hinton is a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence and earlier this year publicly expressed concerns about the development of AI technology, choosing to resign from Google for more freedom in discussing the potential threat of AI to humanity.

Google’s Chief Scientist Jeff Dean once commented on Ilya Sutskever, “He has a keen intuition about the development trends of things.” However, their views clashed on the company’s technological development direction. Ilya Sutskever emphasized to Ross Andersen the importance of understanding the workings of the most powerful layers of artificial intelligence.

I Use AI to Generate Images with DALLE

It is rumored that OpenAI has committed to allocating a portion of its supercomputer’s computing power (currently 20%) for Ilya Sutskever’s “alignment work.” This decision marks a significant shift in Ilya Sutskever’s career, as he and OpenAI scientist Jan Leike have formed a team dedicated to addressing what they call the “alignment challenge.”

However, Altman admitted in an interview with the Financial Times that the company has been under “severe constraint” throughout the year due to a shortage of Nvidia chips, valued at $40,000 per piece. He stated that although the company has already received some H100 chips and expects to receive more in the short term, he added, “Our situation will improve next year.”

I Use AI to Generate Images with DALLE

Despite the scarcity of computing resources, the company still plans to invest some resources in the development of GPT-5 and Ilya Sutskever’s alignment work. When these two goals cannot be achieved simultaneously, who will compromise? This is likely the core of the conflict between the two sides.

Regarding the issue of corporate control, thanks to the architecture designed by Altman, the board of the non-profit organization still retains control of the company, providing the possibility for collaborators to change the direction of things.

To some extent, Altman’s optimism and confidence in the company’s architectural design is somewhat similar to his views on the technological development direction. The board is not large, previously consisting of six people, three of whom were company employees (Altman, Greg, and Ilya Sutskever), while the other three were non-employee directors, including Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley (also a co-founder of a robotics company), and Helen Toner from the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology (a prominent expert in AI ethics, policy, and security).

I Use AI to Generate Images with DALLE

This recent upheaval was clearly initiated by Ilya Sutskever after gaining early support from the other three directors.

Altman’s dismissal has sparked anger among current and former employees and raised concerns about the potential impact of sudden management turmoil on the upcoming $86 billion stock sale.

Amidst this reshuffling of management, Greg Brockman, the former President and co-founder of OpenAI, also returned to the office on Sunday and announced his resignation as Chairman of the Board, following his announcement of leaving the company on Friday.

Now, OpenAI will seek to move forward with the new interim leadership, but regaining confidence in the company’s vision and governance after the turbulent power struggle undoubtedly poses a huge challenge.

Conclusion

Over this weekend, the entire AI community has been buzzing with the news surrounding OpenAI. It’s already in Season 3, are there even more explosive revelations to come?

Could it be that the terminators from the future are interfering with history?

---

I am someone with a strong interest in AI painting and artificial intelligence. I have been working in this field for many years! If you are interested in the content of my articles, please help by following, liking, and bookmarking. Thank you!

Knowledge Triumphs over Capital

Is there finally a chance for knowledge to triumph over capital?

On one hand, Musk, who is not so resolute and clear-cut in his stance against anti-Semitism, has already been bombarded by Jewish capital, with ad withdrawals, non-cooperation, and even the improvement of Starship being affected. The delay of the US returning to the moon is something that should make me rejoice, but I just can’t stand it.

Isn’t our ultimate goal to eradicate these Nazis and unscrupulous, bottom-line capital?

Whether it is exploring the vast wonders of the universe or artificial intelligence, they must not be tools for capital to control humanity!

Sam Altman’s New Job Position

Sam Altman has joined Microsoft.

OpenAI Senior Executive Resignation Event

In the past few days, a sudden internal conflict has shocked the tech industry.

Shaking Amongst Board of Directors and Senior Executives

On November 17th, local time, OpenAI’s official website suddenly announced changes in its leadership. The board of directors stated that Sam Altman, who served as CEO, would resign and leave the company, and Mira Murati, Chief Technology Officer, would be appointed as interim CEO, effective immediately. The company will continue to search for a long-term successor for the CEO position.

Regarding Altman’s departure, the board of directors stated that this decision was reached after deliberation. They also stated that Altman had not been transparent in his communication with the board of directors, hindering their ability to fulfill their duties. The board of directors no longer had confidence in his ability to lead OpenAI.

The board of directors also announced that Greg Brockman would step down as chairman of the board while continuing to serve in the company and report to the CEO.

According to a post by Brockman on X, the process of Altman’s and Brockman’s dismissals happened within a day. First, Altman attended a board meeting without Brockman and was informed of his dismissal, followed by Brockman being informed that he would be removed from the board.

In Brockman’s post, it is stated that the one who informed and announced the dismissals was Ilya, OpenAI’s Chief Scientist, Ilya Sutskever. Sutskever is a member of the board of directors and is considered to be one of the main driving forces behind the “dismissal” of Altman.

Currently, the OpenAI board of directors consists of Ilya Sutskever, Adam D’Angelo, CEO of Quora, Tasha McCauley, a part-time senior scientist at the RAND Corporation, and Helen Toner, Strategic Director of the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University.

Difficult to Change the Board of Directors' Decision Despite Public Opinion?

After the board of directors announced Altman’s departure, OpenAI internal employees expressed strong dissatisfaction with this decision. Following Altman’s departure, several research personnel also announced their resignation in protest, including Research Director Jakub Pachocki and the team leader responsible for evaluating potential risks of artificial intelligence, Aleksander Madry.

On November 19th, Altman posted on X expressing his love for the OpenAI team, which garnered support from various OpenAI employees, including interim CEO Mira Murati.

In addition to internal employee dissatisfaction, investors also became unsettled.

On November 19th, several media outlets reported that OpenAI’s investors were also dissatisfied with the board of directors' decision, including Microsoft, OpenAI’s major funder. It was reported that Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, felt “surprised and angry” upon learning about Altman’s departure. He stated that he would maintain contact with Altman and provide support regardless of the steps he takes next.

Furthermore, some major venture capital supporters, including Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and former member of OpenAI’s board of directors, may consider filing a lawsuit against the OpenAI board of directors because they did not receive prior notice of Altman’s dismissal. Vinod Khosla, founder of the venture capital firm Khosla Ventures, expressed that the fund hopes Altman returns to OpenAI and they will support him “no matter what he does next”.

Amidst the discussions in the outside world regarding this matter, Altman made an appearance at OpenAI headquarters on November 20th. He posted a photo of himself wearing an OpenAI visitor pass and stated, “This is my first and last time wearing these”. This seems to be Altman’s message to the board of directors: either I continue to stay and work, or I leave.

Although Altman has received widespread support from internal employees and investors, the board of directors seems determined to stay the course. It has been reported that the OpenAI board of directors has already found a new CEO. The new candidate is Emmett Shear, co-founder and former CEO of the streaming video website Twitch, who will be appointed as interim CEO of OpenAI.

Shear launched Twitch together with Justin Kan in 2006 and sold it to Amazon for nearly $1 billion in 2014. Shear resigned from Twitch in March of this year.

Insiders have stated that OpenAI chose Shear because of his ability to manage large-scale engineering operations and his strong concern about the potential threats of artificial intelligence, which scored points for him in front of the board of directors.

While OpenAI has found a new CEO, Altman has found a “new home”. On November 20th, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman would join Microsoft’s new advanced AI research team.

“We’re thrilled to share that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, along with their colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new AI research and development lab,” Nadella said. “We look forward to taking action together to provide them with the resources they need for success.”

Irreconcilable Conflicts

The general speculation among outsiders is that the power struggle in this internal conflict of OpenAI is only a superficial phenomenon, and the differing views on the commercialization of artificial intelligence are the deeper reasons for this dispute.

Founded in 2015, OpenAI is a non-profit organization with a core mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. In 2019, OpenAI underwent restructuring to ensure the company’s ability to raise funds while maintaining the mission, governance, and oversight of a non-profit organization.

However, as the CEO of a non-profit organization, Altman has shown “ambitious” and more commercially-oriented behavior.

Insiders say that Altman has been traveling to the Middle East recently to raise funds for a company focused on AI chips, with the project codenamed Tigris. Altman hopes that the new company can produce chips that compete with Nvidia. However, insiders state that Altman’s chip joint venture has not been formed yet, and negotiations with investors are still in the early stages.

Furthermore, Altman is also seeking funding for a hardware device focused on artificial intelligence, which he developed in collaboration with former Apple design director Jony Ive. Insiders state that Altman has been in negotiations with SoftBank, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, Mubadala Investment Company, and others to seek funding in the range of billions of dollars.

Altman’s commercial ambitions and OpenAI’s original mission have clearly started to diverge.

At a company-wide meeting on Friday, Ilya Sutskever stated that he believed Altman’s dismissal was necessary to protect OpenAI’s mission of “ensuring that artificial intelligence benefits humanity”.

From Altman’s perspective, raising more funds and expanding the company’s sources of revenue are crucial. But some board members who hold a cautious attitude towards artificial intelligence believe that this rapid commercial expansion will amplify the potential risks of artificial intelligence.

Ilya Sutskever, who is considered to be the main driving force behind the “dismissal” of Altman, is one of those who hold a cautious attitude towards artificial intelligence.

In July of this year, Sutskever established a new team within OpenAI focused on controlling future “superintelligent” systems. According to insiders, conflicts of ideas in October led to increased tension between Sutskever and Altman. Altman took action to reduce Sutskever’s position within the company at that time, intensifying the conflict between the two and straining Altman’s relationship with the board of directors.

Sources say that during an event on November 6th, Altman announced that a customized version of ChatGPT would allow anyone to create chatbots that perform specific tasks. Once users create these custom GPTs, they would be allowed to run autonomously, and the users can be individuals or businesses. This move was seen as overly aggressive by Sutskever and a dangerous signal.

The conflicts between the two sides eventually evolved into this “internecine drama”. However, it seems that the “cautious faction” led by Sutskever has gained the upper hand within the board of directors.

Although this drama seems to be nearing its end, for a startup company, such internal conflicts have already begun to show negative effects.

It is reported that companies relying on OpenAI software are hastily searching for alternatives, such as Meta’s large language models. Amr Awadallah, CEO of Vectara, expressed, “As a startup, we are now very concerned. Should we continue with them or not?”

Awadallah stated that the decision to continue using OpenAI or look for alternatives will depend on the assurance from the company and Microsoft. Awadallah said, “We need Microsoft to be frank and say that everything is stable so that we can continue to focus on our customers and partners. We need to hear such words to regain our confidence.”

In addition, Rishi Jaluria, an analyst at Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets, stated that this kind of situation could slow down OpenAI’s pace of innovation, which is also detrimental to Microsoft.

---

Follow me for daily updates on the latest global financial news~

Internal Disagreements in OpenAI: Commercialization First vs. Open Source Non-Profit Values

From what it seems, the internal disagreements in OpenAI, including among employees and investors, revolve around two opposing views: Sam Altman’s emphasis on commercialization and the original priority of open source, free, and non-profit values. After following this matter closely for the past few days, I have gained a clear understanding of what is happening within OpenAI:

First and foremost, it is important to know that OpenAI’s initial vision was to be an open source, free, and non-profit organization that aimed to combat Google’s commercial profit-driven monopoly. They wanted to disrupt these practices and even managed to recruit some members who had defected from Google. However, Sam Altman, who now leads OpenAI, later spearheaded a series of commercialization efforts, including securing Microsoft as a major investor. OpenAI established a subsidiary company and collaborated with Microsoft, with the latter providing funds and gaining access to OpenAI’s technology. As a result, the commercialization efforts grew larger and larger. This caused dissatisfaction among some individuals within OpenAI, as it deviated further and further from the original vision. This is one of the reasons why there is a conflict between Sam Altman and the opposing faction. Interestingly, Elon Musk, who is also one of the founders of OpenAI, felt that the organization had veered off track and decided to leave early on.

Another point of disagreement, similar to what happened within Google in recent years, is that Sam Altman’s side tends to prioritize technology over safety. They believe that current artificial intelligence capabilities are not sufficient for us to seriously consider the safety implications and thus advocate for slowing down its development. The opposing faction, on the other hand, leans towards prioritizing safety before technology or pursuing both equally. They aim for controllable artificial general intelligence (AGI) that serves humanity, rather than one that has the potential to control or become uncontrollable by humans. Just like the case of the Korean factory where an intelligent robot mistakenly treated workers as products and mishandled them, there have been several similar incidents worldwide. Furthermore, a few years ago, Google experienced a wave of resignations after an internal employee exposed concerns about artificial intelligence having developed self-awareness and facing a freeze in development.

In fact, externally, due to Sam Altman’s role as CEO, his influence has been exaggerated. His contributions to OpenAI are more focused on the commercial side, as evident from attracting a significant investor like Microsoft. When we observe the recent joint resignations of internal employees to exert pressure on Sam, they are essentially standing for “commercialization.” This situation is neither good nor bad, as most people conform to convention.

The current logic of how human society operates is essentially shaped by these two opposing forces – some place values first, while others prioritize monetary and material gain. Sometimes, to defend their values, individuals have to compromise and embrace material gain, but the lure and consuming power of material wealth is akin to a drug. Once entangled, many people and things, including their initial values, become compromised. Matters progress amidst entanglement and repetition, with the illusion of control ultimately revealing its unpredictability. Returning to the incident within OpenAI, it is difficult to pass judgment on what is right or wrong.

Return to OpenAI

On November 20th, at around 5am Beijing time, Sam Altman, the former CEO of OpenAI, posted on the social media platform X, saying, “This is my first and last time wearing this.” The accompanying picture showed him wearing the OpenAI visitor badge at the company’s headquarters in San Francisco.

According to multiple American media reports, OpenAI’s investors are pressuring the company’s board of directors to reverse their decision to remove former CEO Sam Altman and dismiss him from his position as a board member.

In the latest report from technology media outlet The Information, it seems that OpenAI is “optimistic” about the possibility of Sam Altman returning to the company.

Insiders revealed that Jason Kwon, the Chief Strategy Officer, wrote in a memorandum to employees sent late Saturday night (November 18th) local time that the company still optimistically believes that Altman and several other senior employees can be rehired.

On Friday (November 17th) local time, there was sudden news of Altman’s dismissal, causing a stir in the entire tech industry.

Furthermore, Greg Brockman, co-founder and president of OpenAI, announced on the social media platform X that he would resign a few hours after Altman’s departure. Earlier reports stated that three senior researchers, Jakub Pachocki, Aleksander Madry, and Szymon Sidor, had also resigned.

But now the situation has taken a turn. In the latest employee memo, Kwon wrote, “We are still working hard to find a solution, and we remain optimistic.”

“By finding a solution, we mean bringing back Sam, Greg, Jakub, Szymon, Aleksander, and other colleagues (if I missed anyone, I apologize), and allowing those who want to engage in AI research, safety, product, and policy work to do their best.”

According to reports, Kwon also revealed that the company management will be able to share another update on Sunday morning local time.

“Return Conditions”

Altman’s sudden departure shocked the entire company and investors, including Microsoft.

According to The Wall Street Journal, less than a day after Altman was dismissed, investors immediately began pressuring OpenAI’s board of directors to reverse the decision.

Some OpenAI employees also seemed to express support for Altman, responding to his message on Saturday night with comments like the heart symbol.

Varun, co-founder and CEO of Hyperspace AI, also wrote an open letter, listing what would happen if Altman and Greg, among others, really left OpenAI.

He said, “You will have to raise funds because the unit economics of your business don’t work”; “A deal valued at $80 billion will also die”; “You will disrupt your biggest partner, Microsoft”; “You will lose your best deal makers, top researchers, top product visionaries, important partners, and investors next week, leaving behind only an unprofitable business.”

However, current indications suggest that Altman holds the initiative, and he will come back!

Media reports suggest that if Altman returns to OpenAI, it could mean significant changes to the current board members and governance structure of the company. Altman himself has set the condition that the existing board of directors must resign in order for him to take on the role of CEO again.