Obviously not on the level of GPT4/Claude (there are some good comparisions), but close enough to dispel any notion that this One True Saviour is needed for this field to advance. By all accounts he wasn't even spending that much time on it.
People who want to get paid or are loyal to Sam will follow Sam. Microsoft is clearly behind Sam. "Whoever holds the gold makes the rules."
EDIT: gkoberger said it far better, and captures the value beyond the physical and fiat components of the power struggle: >>38337782
"I don't think he's on his own. All those people he helped in the past have come out to support him. Almost his entire company (minus the board) has publicly supported him. His team is currently hosting him at the office with hopes to reinstate him. The CEO who temporarily replaced him has publicly and privately supported his return. OpenAI's investors are backing him. His cofounder quit in solidarity.
Turns out the secret to getting through something like this is to simply have spent the past 15+ years genuinely helping everyone you've ever come across."
After that he was Pres of ycombinator for a while.
Lucky? Sure. But I'd guess he's responsible for a significant amount of OpenAI's success.
A group of OpenAI executives and investors racing to get Sam Altman reinstated to his role as chief executive officer have reached an impasse over the makeup and role of the board, [...] Altman, who was fired Friday, is open to returning but wants to see governance changes — including the removal of existing board members, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. After facing intense pressure following their decision to fire Altman Friday, the board agreed in principle to step down, but have so far refused to officially do so. As of midday Sunday, the board had not resigned out of concern over who could replace them, and were vetting candidates, one of the people said.
OpenAI negotiations to reinstate Altman hit snag over board role - >>38337568 - Nov 2023 (18 comments)
"I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we've built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company."
https://twitter.com/ilyasut/status/1726590052392956028?t=DjA...