Daily Insider: OpenAI drama puts future of AI at risk

UPDATE: Sam Altman will now return as CEO of OpenAI after a dramatic last few days – read the latest news here.

Ongoing drama around the future of Sam Altman at OpenAI is seriously risking sending ChatGPT and the entire artificial intelligence sector into a tailspin.

ChatGPT’s explosion onto the tech scene late last year sparked off a realisation that software and hardware is finally reaching a stage where it could equal or even overtake human intelligence.

Debate has since raged about whether professions such as accounting, engineering, administration and even journalism could be completely replaced by AI bots in years to come.

So important has AI become to our world that in countries like the UAE, we now have a Minister of Artificial Intelligence. 

What has made OpenAI even more interesting, though, is its corporate structure. A board with a non-profit agenda is overseeing parts of the business which are profit-led. The profit-led side of OpenAI works on a model where developers across the globe can tap OpenAI’s Application Programming Interface (API) and pay a usage rate, with pricing hinged on the type of model they use.

Added to this, ChatGPT itself also now offers a higher value offering at a $20 per month fee.

The board at OpenAI has the agenda of looking out for the good of society, while the underlying business is under pressure to provide a return to investors. There is a clear misalignment here, and it’s no wonder that Altman has been booted out in the way he has.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Altman was fired by his board over a brief Google Meet call, with little to no reason reportedly given. The WSJ reports that there (obviously) appears to have been a breakdown in trust between the board and Altman, with the former double-checking everything he had been telling them in recent months.

Adding to the drama has been Microsoft’s ‘hiring’ of Altman and the threat by OpenAI staff to resign and jump ship. Reports indicate that Microsoft, now, is pushing to change the structure of the OpenAI board, possibly bringing in more ‘experience’.

What’s tragic here is that OpenAI’s product development is at risk of becoming collateral damage. With it, the advent of AI could hit a major speed bump. Let’s hope it doesn’t pan out like the cryptocurrencies space has.