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Comment by sylware

3 days ago

I don't really understand why E.Musk got rid of openai.

I can recall the first experiments with dota2 while he was still "in charge" of openai.

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sylware

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druskacik  3 days ago

He wanted to be the CEO and merge it with Tesla[0], but the researchers had a problem with him (some had a problem with Altman as well, but that's another story). He did not have any real options since OpenAI was a non-profit then, so he just left. The new book The Optimist[1] about Sam Altman has some more details on this and other OpenAI Game of Thrones, I definitely recommend for those interested.

[0] https://openai.com/index/openai-elon-musk/

[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223400731-the-optimist

kjksf  3 days ago

He didn't "got rid of openai".

When he left OpenAI the stated reason was conflict of interests: Tesla was ramping up work on self driving.

He also hired A. Karpathy away from OpenAI to lead Tesla's ai vision.

  • bboygravity  3 days ago

    There's also the small detail where OpenAI decided to only remain open in name?

    And the fact that Sam from the very start wanted to turn it into his own closed source for-profit company (still ongoing) using non-profit funding as start-up seed funds (essentially stealing Elon Musk's money)?

    • Barracoon  3 days ago

      Funny, the scenario you described is exactly what Elon wanted to do!

      https://openai.com/index/openai-elon-musk/

      > In late 2017, we and Elon decided the next step for the mission was to create a for-profit entity. Elon wanted majority equity, initial board control, and to be CEO. In the middle of these discussions, he withheld funding. Reid Hoffman bridged the gap to cover salaries and operations.

khurs  3 days ago

“you could parachute him [Sam Altman] into an island full of cannibals and come back in five years and he’d be the king”

Paul Graham