Sure, I agree with all of the local points you’ve stated here (“local” as in “not taking account the particulars of the recent OpenAI drama”). For clarity, my previous disagreement was with the following local claim:
When I make an agreement to work closely with you on a crucial project, if I think you’re deceiving me, I will let you know
In my view, “knowingly executing your part of the agreement in a way misaligned with my understanding of how that part is to be executed” counts as “not paying up in a trade agreement”, and is therefore grounds for ceasing to act in accordance with the agreement on my end too. From this latest comment, it sounds like you’d agree with that?
Reading the other branch of this thread, you seem to disagree that that was the situation in which the OpenAI board had been. Sure, I’m hardly certain of this myself. However, if it were, and if they were highly certain of being in that position, I think their actions are fairly justified.
My understanding is that OpenAI’s foundational conceit was prioritizing safety over profit/power-pursuit, and that their non-standard governance structure was explicitly designed to allow the board to take draconian measures if they concluded the company went astray. Indeed, going off these sort of disclaimers or even the recent actions, it seems they were hardly subtle or apologetic about such matters.
“Don’t make us think that you’d diverge from our foundational conceit if given the power to, or else” was part of the deal Sam Altman effectively signed by taking the CEO role. And if the board had concluded that this term was violated, then taking drastic and discourteous measures to remove him from power seems entirely fine to me.
Paraphrasing: while in the general case of deal-making, a mere “l lost trust in you” is not reasonable grounds for terminating the deal, my understanding is that “we have continued trust in you” was part of this specific deal, meaning losing trust was reasonable grounds for terminating this specific deal.
I acknowledge, though, that it’s possible I’m extrapolating from the “high-risk investment” disclaimer plus their current actions incorrectly, that the board had actually failed to communicate this to Sam when hiring him. Do we have cause to believe that, though?
Sure, I agree with all of the local points you’ve stated here (“local” as in “not taking account the particulars of the recent OpenAI drama”). For clarity, my previous disagreement was with the following local claim:
In my view, “knowingly executing your part of the agreement in a way misaligned with my understanding of how that part is to be executed” counts as “not paying up in a trade agreement”, and is therefore grounds for ceasing to act in accordance with the agreement on my end too. From this latest comment, it sounds like you’d agree with that?
Reading the other branch of this thread, you seem to disagree that that was the situation in which the OpenAI board had been. Sure, I’m hardly certain of this myself. However, if it were, and if they were highly certain of being in that position, I think their actions are fairly justified.
My understanding is that OpenAI’s foundational conceit was prioritizing safety over profit/power-pursuit, and that their non-standard governance structure was explicitly designed to allow the board to take draconian measures if they concluded the company went astray. Indeed, going off these sort of disclaimers or even the recent actions, it seems they were hardly subtle or apologetic about such matters.
“Don’t make us think that you’d diverge from our foundational conceit if given the power to, or else” was part of the deal Sam Altman effectively signed by taking the CEO role. And if the board had concluded that this term was violated, then taking drastic and discourteous measures to remove him from power seems entirely fine to me.
Paraphrasing: while in the general case of deal-making, a mere “l lost trust in you” is not reasonable grounds for terminating the deal, my understanding is that “we have continued trust in you” was part of this specific deal, meaning losing trust was reasonable grounds for terminating this specific deal.
I acknowledge, though, that it’s possible I’m extrapolating from the “high-risk investment” disclaimer plus their current actions incorrectly, that the board had actually failed to communicate this to Sam when hiring him. Do we have cause to believe that, though?