I’m just going to start reposting my reply to this story every time it’s posted, because it’s the same story being recycled by every tech outlet on the internet.
This reads as the same shit that was outed during the hullabaloo when Altman was fired, and even then, at the height of the controversy, everyone around him shot it down. Take anything she says with a grain of salt. She’s been critical of the company for a while, tried to stage a coup for the company, and got judo-couped when Altman came back and she got fired. I don’t want to appear dismissive of her or whatever problems she allegedly has faced, but so far she has yet to put forth compelling evidence, and is just beating on the same drum repeatedly. Coincidentally, she is returning to the forefront as the recent drama around the Scarlett Johansson voice model is cooling off, which comes across like an attack to keep pressure on the company, rather than anything with validity, especially when, as I’ve said, she isn’t offering anything new, just the same attacks that failed before.
In a vacuum, sure, but it also completely tracks with Sam Altman’s behavior outside of OpenAI.
Employees at previous companies he’s run had expressed very similar concerns about Altman acting in dishonest and manipulative ways. At his most high profile gig before OpenAi, Paul Graham flew from London to San Francisco to personally (and quietly) fire him from Y Combinator because Altman had gone off the reservation there too. The guy has a track record of doing exactly the kind of thing Toner is claiming.
What we know publicly strongly suggests Altman is a serial manipulator. I’m inclined to believe Toner on the basis that it fits with what we otherwise know about the man. From what I can tell, the board wasn’t wrong; they lost because Altman’s core skill is being a power broker and he went nuclear when the board tried to do their job.
https://x.com/paulg/status/1796107666265108940
There is Paul Graham saying exactly the opposite.
Arguments can be made that Altman is making threats behind the scenes and forcing people to say nice things about him under duress, but 700 people from OpenAI signed a petition to bring him back as CEO, and only 3 wanted him gone. 700 people is a lot to quietly threaten, and none of them have come out to Toner’s defense as she continues on her crusade.
I’m sure Altman has his own list of sins, everyone does, but I really think that he, and OpenAI by association, are constantly under attack in our new era of corporate warfare. You no longer need to sabotage the actual company, you just have to poison the well so that funding and potential employee base dries up, which is exactly what is happening with the constant stream of attacks against OpenAI. AI is the first quadrillion dollar industry, and OpenAI is the leader. It’s not just companies that want a piece, its entire countries. Look at how the US has to deal with election interference and then look at what goes on against OpenAI. You’ll see the patterns.
