There are a lot of questions surrounding Sam Altman's firing.
Why were company directors removed when there were only four members? Why are some board members so ignorant? And why did Microsoft, the largest investor in OpenAI, not get a seat on the board of directors?
The answer to these questions lies in the structure of the company─I guess you have to go back to 2015.
At the beginning of OpenAI, there was uncertainty. Its press release is clear: "Our goal is to create value for everyone, for our shareholders."
's mission is to "promote digital education to benefit everyone, regardless of the restrictions of carrying money."
It has also been suggested that the goal of achieving artificial intelligence (AGI)—artificial intelligence capable of performing tasks that humans can accomplish—can be achieved with very little money.
In 2015, OpenAI said donors had donated $1bn (£799m) to the initiative but "we expect to spend only a fraction of this over the next few years".
OpenAI employees want Altman fired
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By 2019, we know this is nonsense. Cloud computing will have greater power to realize its lofty ambitions. That's a lot of money.
But nonprofits often have difficulty raising enough funds to become profitable. In 2019, another hybrid was born.
This is where things get complicated.
Non-profit organization OpenAI creates a profitable business unit. Investors can suddenly invest in a company and expect a return - up to 100 times their initial investment.
For-profits and nonprofits can have relationships - but they are not the same.
In order to ensure that the profit division complies with OpenAI's requirements, it was decided that a non-profit organization would manage the entire company.
What does this mean? Yes, in theory, the company could work toward its mission of helping people and attracting significant funding. This is a "best of both worlds" combination.
In the words of OpenAI, nonprofits can ensure that "service and principles... take precedence over profit responsibilities."
Mission, not profit
This design is awesome. But it seems to have worked. Money is also included.
It's just Microsoft--making billions of dollars for the company. Typically, you need a big sponsor to apply for a board seat - and get one.
But now the OpenAI interface is different. Its nonprofit doesn't have to invest a lot of money into deciding how the company is run because the organization is guided by its mission, not money.
Over the next few years, many officials left behind many controversial remarks. The board last week had six members — a very small number for a company valued at $80 billion.
Three OpenAI directors: Greg Brockman (Chairman and President), Ilya Sutskever (Chief Scientist), and Sam Altman (Chief Operating Officer); and non-employee Adam D'Angelo, Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner.
A nonprofit looks like...a nonprofit board. Some board members are not very familiar with the board members.
Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer wrote on , and all have rich experience.”
Of course, the decision was made by a majority, and only four people could make significant changes to OpenAI — including ousting its CEO. On Friday, he did just that. Sam Altman was fired and Greg Brockman resigned.
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