zlacker

>>staran+(OP)
OpenAI's Future and Viability

- OpenAI has damaged their brand and lost trust, but may still become a hugely successful company if they build great products

- OpenAI looks stronger now with a more professional board, but has fundamentally transformed into a for-profit focused on commercializing LLMs

- OpenAI still retains impressive talent and technology assets and could pivot into a leading AI provider if managed well

---

Sam Altman's Leadership

- Sam emerged as an irreplaceable CEO with overwhelming employee loyalty, but may have to accept more oversight

- Sam has exceptional leadership abilities but can be manipulative; he will likely retain control but have to keep stakeholders aligned

---

Board Issues

- The board acted incompetently and destructively without clear reasons or communication

- The new board seems more reasonable but may struggle to govern given Sam's power

- There are still opposing factions on ideology and commercialization that will continue battling

---

Employee Motivations

- Employees followed the money trail and Sam to preserve their equity and careers

- Peer pressure and groupthink likely also swayed employees more than principles

- Mission-driven employees may still leave for opportunities at places like Anthropic

---

Safety vs Commercialization

- The safety faction lost this battle but still has influential leaders wanting to constrain the technology

- Rapid commercialization beat out calls for restraint but may hit snags with model issues

---

Microsoft Partnership

- Microsoft strengthened its power despite not appearing involved in the drama

- OpenAI is now clearly beholden to Microsoft's interests rather than an independent entity

>>jafitc+F91
No structure or organization is stronger when their leader emerged as "irreplaceable".

>>qualif+Bb1
In this case, I don't see as a flaw, but really as Sam's abilities to lead a highly cohesive group and keep it highly motivated and aligned.

I don't personally like him, but I must admit he displayed a lot more leadership skills than I'd recognize before.

It's inherently hard to replace someone like that in any organization.

Take Apple, after losing Jobs. It's not that Apple was a "weak" organization, but really Jobs that was extraordinary and indeed irreplaceable.

No, I'm not comparing Jobs and Sam. Just illustrating my point.

>>rmbyrr+xc1
Jobs was really unusual in that he was not only a good leader, but also an ideologue with the right obsession at the right time. (Some people like the word "visionary".) That obsession being "user experience". Today it's a buzzword, but in 2001 it was hardly even a term.

The leadership moment that first comes to mind when I think of Steve Jobs isn't some clever hire or business deal, it's "make it smaller".

There have been a very few people like that. Walt Disney comes to mind. Felix Klein. Yen Hongchang [1]. (Elon Musk is maybe the ideologue without the leadership.)

1: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/01/20/145360447/the-...