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Much talk about Open AI and the many departures; just this past week three more major ones.
Much speculation: not paid enough? better opportunity? oai product not cutting the mustard? sama’s fancy 2m car?
In this video I break down what I think - there are THREE MAJOR LEGAL FORCES playing out in the background which could well explain these departures, and what this means going forward.
Here is my brief breakdown of NYT v OAI (Microsoft) from January in the context of the Coming (its here!) Legal v Technology War over AI.
Below a summary from Perplexity of the many departures at Open AI
And I add an AI COUNSEL BREAKING NEWS ZINGER AT THE END YOU WILL WANT TO SEE AND THINK ABOUT….
Key Departures
The most recent high-profile departure is that of Mira Murati, OpenAI's Chief Technology Officer, who announced her exit on September 25, 2024, after six and a half years with the company
Murati played a crucial role in developing ChatGPT and the AI image generator Dall-E, and briefly served as interim CEO during the tumultuous period when Sam Altman was temporarily removed from his position in November 2023
Along with Murati, two other senior executives also left the company:
Bob McGrew, Chief Research Officer
Barret Zoph, Vice President of Research who worked on ChatGPT
These departures follow a pattern of high-level exits from OpenAI over the past year:
Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and chief scientist, left in May 2024 to start his own AI company focused on safe superintelligence
John Schulman, another co-founder, departed to work at AI competitor Anthropic
Greg Brockman, president and co-founder, is currently on sabbatical through the end of 2024
Implications and Context
The wave of departures comes as OpenAI is reportedly planning to restructure itself into a for-profit benefit corporation, moving away from its original non-profit structure
. This shift aims to make the company more attractive to potential investors as it seeks to raise billions in funding to support its operations and ambitious goals
.CEO Sam Altman acknowledged the unusual nature of these abrupt changes, stating, "Leadership changes are a natural part of companies, especially companies that grow so quickly and are so demanding. I obviously won't pretend it's natural for this one to be so abrupt, but we are not a normal company"
Company Response
Despite the departures, OpenAI's leadership is attempting to reassure investors and employees about the company's stability and future prospects:
CFO Sarah Friar sent a letter to investors emphasizing that OpenAI still has a "talented leadership team" capable of competing effectively
The company is in the process of finalizing a $6.5 billion funding round that could value OpenAI at approximately $150 billion
Altman has been recruiting experienced Silicon Valley professionals for key positions to demonstrate the company's maturation
As OpenAI navigates these changes, it continues to face challenges in balancing its rapid growth, technological advancements, and the ethical considerations surrounding AI development. The coming months will likely be crucial in determining the company's direction and its ability to maintain its position at the forefront of AI innovation.
Bonus Zinger [AI COUNSEL EXCLUSIVE]!
My recent proposal to SSI (I mean TO SSI and only SSI) received this confirmation (!!!) :
*** Jeez, came in too soon after running and still sweating! Sorry.
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