Just when you thought this saga couldn't get any more climactic, a former OpenAI employee comes forward with serious accusations against recently departed CEO Sam Altman. What’s even more bizarre is that the letters from these employees fell into the hands of Elon Musk, who called for a thorough investigation.
OpenAI's board of directors fired Sam Altman on Friday for not being "always candid" with the board, sending shockwaves through the global technology community. On Monday, after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Altman would lead the tech giant's internal artificial intelligence division, OpenAI employees rose up against the board, threatening to submit their resignations unless the board reinstated Sam Altman and then resign.
This is the crux of the matter. Currently, a letter purportedly from a former OpenAI employee is going viral on social media. The alleged employees claim they were pushed out of the company for standing up to Sam Altman and his increasingly mercantilist tendencies.
The letter stated:
"We believe that a large number of OpenAI employees were driven out of the company to promote the company's transition to a profit model. This is evidenced by OpenAI's employee turnover rate of approximately 50% between January 2018 and July 2020."
The letter also details the core elements of the allegations:
"Many of us initially felt hopeful about OpenAI's mission and chose to give Sam and Greg credit. However, as their actions became increasingly alarming, those who dared to voice their concerns were silenced or marginalized. This systematic attempt to silence dissent created an environment of fear and intimidation that effectively stifled any meaningful discussion about the ethical implications of OpenAI's work."
In terms of specifics, these former OpenAI employees allege that Altman delayed reporting on several secret projects that ultimately failed to come to fruition on his accelerated timeline and were subsequently axed. Those who objected to the policy were summarily fired, saying they "didn't fit in with the company culture." Altman also allegedly authorized snooping on key OpenAI employees, including its chief scientist Ilya Sutskever.
The employees also expressed dissatisfaction with OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman for "using discriminatory language toward a gender transition team member." The employee was later fired due to poor performance, the letter states.
According to these anonymous individuals, OpenAI’s governance structure is flawed:
"OpenAI's governance structure was specifically designed by Sam and Greg to intentionally insulate employees from overseeing for-profit operations precisely because of their inherent conflicts of interest. This opaque structure allowed Sam and Greg to operate with impunity and evade accountability."
Finally, the letter calls on the OpenAI board to continue its "unwavering" opposition to Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. You know, some of OpenAI's most prominent investors are trying to convince Altman to leave Microsoft and return to leading the startup. Others are considering suing the board for its arbitrary firing of Altman. Microsoft's Satya Nadella also expressed conditional approval for Sam Altman to return to his previous position at OpenAI.
Ironically, Elon Musk, whose X social media platform is currently embroiled in controversy over anti-Semitic posts appearing next to some corporate ads, has called for an investigation into allegations made by former OpenAI employees. Since Musk's xAI competes directly with OpenAI, the world's richest man may have a bit of a stake in his views on this topic.