• guitarsarereal@sh.itjust.works
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      10 months ago

      Yeah, it was a massive coup for Microsoft. As people are pointing out, MS has been falling behind in consumer spaces for a while now. Investing early and obtaining a substantial edge in AI would help bolster their position in coming years across all markets.

      They moved in and invested in OpenAI the way they did because of this. And then all of a sudden Altman and a bunch of top researchers leave all at the same time? The most Microsoft thing they could have done is exactly what they did: swoop him up and promise him the moon (in this case, the promise is clearly that they’ll give him a lot of latitude so he doesn’t feel too much like he lost out by not forming his own company – they even said something around this in their press release) to get him on their side and his name on paperwork before he has a chance to seriously reconsider.

      Altman probably thinks he got one over on OpenAI, but really, Microsoft got one over on him and OpenAI.

    • ours@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      It does and Microsoft poured a ton of money into OpenAI. Including offering some of their services exclusively via Azure.

    • BetaDoggo_@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      As far as we know Microsoft has access to some of their IP but not much else. Judging by the output of their own research division they’re anxious to replace them.

      • ijeff@lemdro.id
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        10 months ago

        They have access to the IP and own the compute resources running OpenAI’s services.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    10 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Sam Altman is joining Microsoft, the tech-giant has announced, ending speculation he might return to OpenAI just 48 hours after his chaotic ousting.

    He is considered one of the most influential figures in the fast-growing generative artificial intelligence (AI) space, and his sacking sent shockwaves across the industry.

    It sparked an outpouring of support from Silicon Valley bosses, including former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt who called Mr Altman “a hero of mine” and said that he had “changed our collective world forever”.

    On Friday, when OpenAI announced it was firing Mr Altman, it accused him of not being “consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities”.

    On Sunday evening, the board said it “firmly stands by its decision as the only path to advance and defend the mission of OpenAI,” according to an internal memo, seen by The New York Times.

    Mr Altman testified before a US Congressional hearing to discuss the opportunities and risks created by the new technology and also appeared at the world’s first AI Safety Summit in the UK at the beginning of November.


    The original article contains 685 words, the summary contains 186 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • onestop@lemmy.ml
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    10 months ago

    i think this is all fake to save face by everyone doing AI, if the AI boss is down people will stop investing in AI, and bigtech doesn’t want that, IMO. Right here Microsoft came to save the day but they pretty much saved the whole AI industry.

      • TheDarkKnight@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        I am cautious to think he’s all that innovative, but rather was the figurehead. He might be able to poach the innovators though.

        • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Yeah I doubt he was magic on his own, but if a competitor hired him he would utilise his insider OpenAI knowledge to make day to day decisions that might help a competitor close the gap or supersede OpenAI. Better to pay him millions of dollars a year to keep that knowledge in house and deprive competitors of the opportunity.