The quote is from Emmett Shear, not a board member.
The board is also following the “don’t say anything literally false” policy by saying practically nothing publicly.
Just as I infer from Shear’s qualifier that the firing did have something to do with safety, I infer from the board’s public silence that their reason for the firing isn’t one that would win back the departing OpenAI members (or would only do so at a cost that’s not worth paying).
This is consistent with it being a safety concern shared by the superalignment team (who by and large didn’t sign the statement at first) but not by the rest of OpenAI (who view pushing capabilities forward as a good thing, because like Sam they believe the EV of OpenAI building AGI is better than the EV of unilaterally stopping). That’s my current main hypothesis.
(or would only do so at a cost that’s not worth paying)
That’s the part that confuses me most. An NDA wouldn’t be strong enough reason at this point. As you say, safety concerns might, but that seems pretty wild unless they literally already have AGI and are fighting over what to do with it. The other thing is anything that if said out loud might involve the police, so revealing the info would be itself an escalation (and possibly mutually assured destruction, if there’s criminal liability on both sides). I got nothing.
The quote is from Emmett Shear, not a board member.
The board is also following the “don’t say anything literally false” policy by saying practically nothing publicly.
Just as I infer from Shear’s qualifier that the firing did have something to do with safety, I infer from the board’s public silence that their reason for the firing isn’t one that would win back the departing OpenAI members (or would only do so at a cost that’s not worth paying).
This is consistent with it being a safety concern shared by the superalignment team (who by and large didn’t sign the statement at first) but not by the rest of OpenAI (who view pushing capabilities forward as a good thing, because like Sam they believe the EV of OpenAI building AGI is better than the EV of unilaterally stopping). That’s my current main hypothesis.
Ah, oops! My expectations are reversed for Shear; him I strongly expect to be as exact as humanly possible.
With that update, I’m inclined to agree with your hypothesis.
That’s the part that confuses me most. An NDA wouldn’t be strong enough reason at this point. As you say, safety concerns might, but that seems pretty wild unless they literally already have AGI and are fighting over what to do with it. The other thing is anything that if said out loud might involve the police, so revealing the info would be itself an escalation (and possibly mutually assured destruction, if there’s criminal liability on both sides). I got nothing.