Disgruntled OpenAI workers who left BEFORE Sam Altman’s brief ouster claim they were ‘pushed out’ to transition it to a for-profit model

A letter allegedly written by former OpenAI employees alleges that Sam Altman and his co-founder Greg Brockman created a hostile work environment that drove employees out of the company as it moved toward a for-profit model.

The letter, signed only by “concerned former OpenAI employees,” was posted to X by Elon Musk, who had a falling out with Altman over the company’s leadership several years ago.

“These seem like issues worth investigating,” the Tesla magnate wrote.

The letter, dated November 21, 2023, alleges that Altman and Brockman have created a hostile work environment at OpenAI, which they are asking the new board to investigate.

Specifically, they claim that “a significant number of OpenAI employees were pushed out of the company to ease the transition to a for-profit model.”

“However, their methods have raised serious doubts about their true intentions and the extent to which they truly prioritize the well-being of humanity,” it said.

Claims about “Sam and Greg’s dishonesty and manipulation,” as outlined in the letter, include:

Commands from Sam that later resulted in the firing of employees who listened to him, and Greg’s failure to use appropriate language around a “gender transition team member.”

The letter also accuses employees who remain at OpenAI of “blindly” following Altman and Brockman’s leadership, “even at significant personal cost.”

“This unwavering loyalty stems from a combination of fear of retaliation and the lure of potential financial gains through OpenAI’s profit participation units.”

When Altman was ousted last weekend, some 700 company employees threatened to quit and follow their leader to Microsoft, where he was headed at the time.

The letter of unknown origin ends by asking the newly appointed Board of Directors to “take a strong stand against these unethical practices and initiate an independent investigation into Sam and Greg’s conduct.”

“The future of artificial intelligence and the well-being of humanity depend on your unwavering commitment to ethical leadership and transparency.”

Just five days after his shock resignation, Altman made a stunning return as CEO of OpenAI on November 21 (the same day the letter is dated).

“I love OpenAI and everything I’ve done over the last few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together,” Altman said in a post on X early Wednesday morning.

He thanked Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella for helping him pull off the stunning turnaround.

‘When I decided to join Microsoft on Sunday evening, it was clear that this was the best path for me and the team. With the new board and with Satya’s support, I look forward to returning to openai and building on our strong partnership with (Microsoft).”

In a statement of her own, Nadella credited the changes to the board with getting Altman back to OpenAI.

“We are encouraged by the changes in the OpenAI board,” he wrote. ‘We believe this is an essential first step towards a more stable, well-informed and effective government.’

“Sam, Greg and I have spoken and agreed that together with the OAI leadership team, they must play a key role in ensuring that OAI continues to thrive and build on its mission.

“We look forward to building on our strong partnership and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners.”

OpenAI posted its own statement on X to confirm the announcement.

“We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new board consisting of Bret Taylor (Chairman), Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo,” they wrote.

“We’re working together to figure out the details. Thank you for your patience on this.’

By Monday evening, 747 of the company’s 770 employees had threatened to quit and join Microsoft if the 38-year-old Altman was not reinstated.

In an internal memo written by Vice President of Global Affairs Anna Makanju and seen by Bloomberg, employees were told Monday that management had been in contact with Altman, new CEP Emmett Shear and the board “but they are not willing to give us a to give a final judgment’. response tonight’.

Altman was stepped down as CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI over fears he was ignoring the dangers of artificial intelligence, a report found.

The concerns, raised by a fellow OpenAI board member, culminated in the 38-year-old’s sudden resignation Friday, which sent the tech world into a frenzy and set off a firestorm of speculation.

OpenAI, founded by Altman and ten others in 2015, rolled out ChatGPT a year ago — and its ability to mimic human writing has since proven polarizing.

In addition to raising concerns among the public, this uncertainty was apparently also felt within OpenAI’s six-member board.

Elon Musk founded OpenAI with Sam Altman, the company’s CEO, but in 2018 the billionaire attempted to take control of the startup.

His request was denied, forcing him to leave OpenAI and move on to his other projects.

Musk has since attacked the company, saying the AI ​​is “woke” and deviating from OpenAI’s original nonprofit mission.

‘OpenAI was created as an open source (that’s why I called it ‘Open’ AI), non-profit organization to serve as a counterbalance to Google, but now it has become a profit-maximizing closed source company effectively controlled by Microsoft Musk tweeted in February.

He even signed a letter calling for a pause on the “dangerous race” to develop AI, which they fear poses a “profound risk to society and humanity” and could have “catastrophic” consequences.

OpenAI, meanwhile, released ChatGPT last November – and the technology has come a long way since then.

While many remain skeptical — or downright outraged — about the new tool, OpenAI executives expressed confidence in its future, saying they both “believe in the responsible creation and use of these AI systems.”

More recently, Microsoft provided OpenAI Global LLC with a $10 billion investment, on top of another $1 billion given to the company in 2019.