Techmeme
November 18, 2023, 3:50 PM

Top News

Greg Brockman / @gdb:
Greg Brockman describes OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever's role in Sam Altman's firing, Brockman's removal from OpenAI's board, and Mira Murati's foreknowledge  —  Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today. Let us first say thank you to all the incredible people who we have worked with at OpenAI, our customers, our investors, and all of those who have been reaching out. We too are still trying to figure out exactly...
Jon Victor / The Information:
Sources: three senior OpenAI researchers resign, including Director of Research Jakub Pachocki, and Head of Preparedness Aleksander Madry  —  Three senior researchers at OpenAI resigned Friday night as the artificial intelligence developer suffered fallout from the firing of CEO Sam Altman …
OpenAI:
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman departs the company and leaves its board after a board review found he wasn't “consistently candid in his communications with the board”  —  The board of directors of OpenAI, Inc, the 501(c)(3) that acts as the overall governing body for all OpenAI activities …
More: The Guardian, Wired, New York Times, BBC, Ars Technica, Bloomberg, Slate, Business Insider, Security Affairs, The Algorithmic Bridge, TechCrunch, The Hill, Politico, TechSpot, Washington Post, VentureBeat, The Atlantic, CNBC, Axios, Madrona, crypto.news, TechCrunch, CoinDesk, Wired, Daring Fireball, CNN, IGN, Associated Press, The Hill, Financial Times, NewsBTC, TechCircle, WinBuzzer, CryptoPotato, The Information, Android Headlines, Newser, iPhone in Canada Blog, Analytics India Magazine, CoinGape, DL News, BBC, Financial Times, Cryptonews, Silicon Canals, Stack Diary, Metaverse Post, VentureBeat, Axios, Reuters, Computerworld, Forbes, Bloomberg, Business Insider, Fast Company, Telegraph, HackerNoon, Business Insider, SiliconANGLE, The Decoder, OpenAI Developer Forum, Associated Press, Wccftech, Mashable, iClarified, Constellation Research, Deadline, Australian Financial Review, Reuters, Forbes, Forbes, The Messenger, Variety, NBC News, San Francisco Business Times, Decrypt, The Hollywood Reporter, The Information, and Search Engine Journal
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LinkedIn: Aki Ranin and Kelvin Mu
Axios:
OpenAI memo: Sam Altman's firing wasn't due to “malfeasance” or related to financial, business, safety, or security practices but a “breakdown in communication”  —  Team - after yesterday's announcement, which took us all by surprise, we have had multiple conversations …
Jay Peters / The Verge:
OpenAI CTO Mira Murati becomes the interim CEO as OpenAI searches for a permanent CEO; sources say that employees found out when the news was announced publicly  —  “Mr. Altman's departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid …
Jay Peters / The Verge:
OpenAI co-founder and President Greg Brockman resigns “based on today's news”; the board had said Brockman would step down as chairman but remain the president  —  Sam Altman isn't the only major OpenAI executive leaving the company on Friday.  Hours after Altman was fired …
Forbes:
Kara Swisher / @karaswisher:
Sources: Sam Altman's exit followed a “misalignment” between OpenAI's profit and nonprofit sides, given the company's development speed could be viewed as risky  —  Scoop: There are about to be a lot more major departures of top folks at @OpenAI tonight and I assume Altman will make a statement tonight. But, as I understand it, it was a “misalignment” of the profit versus nonprofit adherents at the company. The developer day was an issue.
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
Source: Ilya Sutskever defended Altman's ouster at an all-hands meeting, saying it was necessary to protect OpenAI's mission of making AI beneficial to humanity  —  Everything seemed to be going his way.  Then his time at OpenAI was over.  —  All over Silicon Valley …
Bloomberg:
Source: Ilya Sutskever and his allies on the OpenAI board may have been put off by Sam Altman looking to raise funds for new companies off of OpenAI's name  —  - Safety and commercialization were central to disagreements  — Microsoft CEO was ‘blindsided,’ furious at Altman's firing
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Nothing pulls its Sunbird-based iMessage app Nothing Chats from the Play Store after a researcher found messages are not E2EE, attachments are public, and more  —  Sunbird has been promising iMessage support on Android for about a year now, but the company has always seemed rather sketchy.
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
A look at OpenAI's complicated relationship with Microsoft, which does not have a seat on the OpenAI board due to OpenAI's origins as a non-profit organization  —  OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was as bullish as ever about artificial intelligence and the ChatGPT maker's latest advances when he spoke Thursday …
Ina Fried / Axios:
The Official Microsoft Blog:
Forbes:
Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global, Lionsgate, and Comcast suspend ads on X, joining Apple and other companies  —  - Apple has paused its online advertising campaigns on X, formerly Twitter, after owner Elon Musk made antisemitic comments on the platform.

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Benj Edwards / Ars Technica: