0:00

Wonder. A plus subscribers can binge new

0:02

seasons of Business Wars ad free

0:04

right now. Join Wonder He placed

0:06

in the Wonder He app or

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on Apple podcasts. Is

0:22

just after Eleven thirty Am on

0:24

November Seventeenth. Twenty Twenty Three In

0:27

Redmond, Washington. A young woman strides

0:29

quickly through the halls of Microsoft

0:31

Headquarters. Her heart is racing and

0:33

or palms are sweaty. Chief Technology

0:36

Officer Kevin Scott asked her to

0:38

get Ceo Satya Nadella out of

0:40

his meeting immediately. there's an emergency.

0:43

Her fellow Microsoft employees watch as

0:45

she practically trots through the office.

0:47

She knows they must see the

0:49

worry on her face. She

0:52

reaches the door to a conference room where

0:54

she can hear and Adela talking through the

0:57

closed door. The woman takes a deep breath

0:59

and opens the door. Nadella

1:01

abruptly stopped talking and everyone around

1:03

the conference table turns to stare

1:05

at the young woman. Her mouth

1:07

cause dry. Nadella, Looks

1:09

at her confused were in the middle

1:12

of a meeting? The. Woman

1:14

crosses to him and whispers in his ear.

1:17

Company right away. Firing

1:20

Santa. The

1:22

Dallas face morphs from confused too

1:24

shocked. he's quiet for a moment.

1:26

Microsoft is open a eyes biggest

1:29

investor and the della his work

1:31

closely with Altman for four years.

1:33

He likes and respects him and

1:36

from his perspective everything has been

1:38

going well. It open a I

1:41

Adela is blindsided by the news.

1:44

He stands up. Excuse me?

1:48

Nadella follows the young woman through the halls

1:51

back to his office. Kevin

1:53

said you need to com your mirghani right

1:55

away that a call. marathi

1:58

is open a ice cheap technology

2:00

officer. Nadella

2:02

enters his office and goes straight to the

2:04

phone. Marathi picks

2:06

up after the second ring. Mira,

2:08

it's Satya. What's going on? The

2:11

board called and told me they're firing Sam

2:13

today at noon. They've asked

2:15

me to serve as interim CEO. At

2:17

noon? That's in less than half an

2:20

hour. We've pledged 13 billion

2:22

to open AI. We're in the process

2:24

of integrating chat GPT throughout our products.

2:26

They didn't think they should discuss this

2:28

with us first. I don't know. I

2:31

told you as soon as I heard. I'm

2:33

not blaming you, but I don't understand. What

2:35

did the board say when they called you? Tell

2:38

me exactly. Jeff said something

2:40

about how he hadn't been consistently candid with

2:42

them. What does that

2:44

mean? They wouldn't say anything else. I'll

2:47

call you as soon as I know more. Okay,

2:50

okay. Thanks Mira. Nadella hangs

2:52

up the phone and immediately

2:55

calls Kevin Scott. Kevin,

2:57

I just talked to Mira. What the hell?

3:00

I know. It's crazy. We need to get

3:02

a meeting with our whole leadership team and

3:04

come up with a strategy to respond ASAP.

3:07

Nadella hangs up the phone, his

3:10

mind racing. He doesn't know

3:12

why the board did what they did, but

3:15

he's not going to let anything jeopardize

3:17

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3:19

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wondering, I'm David Brown and

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this is business. On

5:22

our last episode, Open A, I

5:24

leaped over tech powerhouses like Google

5:26

and Matter to become the industry

5:29

leader in A I and their

5:31

partner Microsoft, which invested thirteen billion

5:33

dollars into Open A. I began

5:35

integrating Chat, Gp, T, and It's

5:37

products. that internally

5:40

a deep this year was warming

5:42

between open a i ceo sam

5:44

altman and board member in chief

5:47

scientist veolia such cover over the

5:49

course of twenty twenty three such

5:51

became convinced that altman had betrayed

5:54

open a eyes founding mandate to

5:56

develop artificial intelligence that was beneficial

5:59

to humanity And that

6:01

meant Altman had failed as

6:03

CEO. On

6:05

November 17th, the OpenAI board

6:07

fired Altman with no warning.

6:11

Altman was stunned for a

6:13

few minutes. Then he

6:15

resolved to fight back. This

6:19

is episode 2. If

6:21

you come at the king. It's

6:31

just afternoon on November 17th,

6:34

2023 at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond,

6:36

Washington, minutes after Altman's

6:38

firing. Satya Nadella

6:40

is on a video meeting with Kevin

6:42

Scott, as well as several of Microsoft's

6:45

top ranking executives. Nadella

6:47

doesn't waste any time getting started. Thank

6:50

you all for making this meeting on such short notice.

6:53

One executive who has shaggy hair and is

6:55

sporting a red Patagonia vest leans

6:57

toward his camera. What the hell

6:59

was the board thinking? In their

7:01

statement, Sam hasn't been consistently candid

7:04

with the board? What

7:06

does that mean? I don't know. I've

7:08

spoken with Mira Murati, the new acting CEO,

7:10

and she didn't know anything. I

7:13

also called board member Adam D'Angelo and

7:15

asked if Sam had done anything nefarious.

7:18

He insists no. Okay, so

7:20

then why? Kevin Scott

7:22

runs his hand over his thin beard.

7:24

The purpose of this meeting is to

7:26

figure out how we respond. Our stock

7:28

is dropping. We need to do something.

7:31

Nadella nods emphatically. Thank

7:33

you, Kevin. I could see the

7:35

company split between people loyal to Sam or

7:37

to the board. The shaggy

7:40

hair executive sighs. We're

7:42

just about to start releasing our office

7:44

software with CoPilot. We can't have open

7:46

AI go kaput now. No,

7:48

we can't. But I think we have

7:50

some options. I think plan A is

7:52

we support Mira in the short term and

7:55

we give the board time to explain the decision

7:57

to fire Sam. Then depending

7:59

on what we learn. Then we throw a

8:01

full weight behind mirror and we tried to

8:03

convince the bought to reinstate Sam. Do.

8:05

You really think the board is going to explain

8:07

this? It seems like they made

8:09

a rash and frankly stupid decisions. That

8:12

brings me to Plan B. We.

8:14

Have a lot of leverage. We fledged them a

8:16

lot of money, but we haven't actually given them

8:18

that much of it yet. We. Could

8:20

use that to pressure the board into putting

8:22

Sam back in charge. I think Option B

8:24

is it. We. Need a new board if we

8:26

want to get back to normal? Other

8:29

executives nod in agreement. Given

8:32

Scott leans forward, I

8:34

think there's also an option. c. We.

8:36

Hire say. I'm. Sure a

8:38

bunch of open Ai researchers would follow him.

8:41

And. Then we can rebuild open

8:43

a I from inside microsoft. We.

8:46

Would own all the tech they develop instead of licensing

8:48

it like we do now. Executives

8:51

around the screen nod and

8:53

murmur. this makes sense to.

8:56

All eyes look toward near Dallas Square on

8:58

the screen. The Dallas Thanks

9:00

for a moment. Okay,

9:03

Let's start with plenty. We. Give the bought

9:05

a chance to tell us if there was a good reason

9:07

for the firing. But if our instincts

9:09

are right and decision is as reckless as

9:11

it seems. We. Moved to Plan B.

9:14

And we get Sam back at open a I

9:16

with a new board. If

9:18

we fail us that we moved to Plan

9:20

C. He. Comes here. Makes.

9:23

Sense to everyone. All

9:25

the executives nod in agreement. Great.

9:29

The. Let's keep digging and find out what on

9:31

earth is going on over There Are right

9:33

that. Despite

9:37

the initial shock, Adela feels good about

9:40

the three strategies he and his executives

9:42

have come up with. And

9:44

the more he thinks about it, the more

9:46

comfortable he feels. The

9:49

way he sees it with this

9:51

kind of leverage over open a

9:53

I, there are no bad options

9:55

for Microsoft. But

9:57

while The Dell is coming to terms with what.

10:00

Heard. Sam. Altman

10:02

is still reeling. It's

10:10

early afternoon on November seventeenth. Twenty Twenty

10:12

Three in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sam

10:15

Altman sits in a chair in his

10:17

hotel suite, staring off into space even

10:20

though he's talked to his friend and

10:22

open a I cofounder Greg Brockman about

10:24

starting a new company. Is

10:26

still doesn't feel real. He

10:29

just can't believe the he's not Ceo

10:31

of open a I anymore. Altman's

10:35

phone buzzes on the desk. He

10:37

glances at the caller id. It's

10:39

Brian Chesty, Ceo of Air B

10:41

and B and Altman's longtime friend.

10:45

Are my picks up the phone. A

10:47

bright as. I. Take it, you heard.

10:50

Yeah, man has a guy. everyone's heard.

10:52

It's. Crazy! I just wanted to reach

10:54

out and see how I can

10:57

help face. I appreciate that to

10:59

be greatest to talk. Hey.

11:01

Let me ask you something. Do

11:03

you know why the board did

11:05

this know? I was totally blindsided.

11:08

Even. Tell me and it'll stay between us. Is.

11:10

Or anything concrete behind her action

11:13

as or anything that could get

11:15

out. It's damage your reputation. I

11:18

don't think so. and me the board and

11:20

I have had our disagreements, but I thought

11:22

it was just a normal and healthy debate

11:24

between a board and firings baseless. Then you

11:26

should fight back. At least try to get

11:28

your job back. Altman

11:31

is convinced. he hangs up with

11:33

Chesty and books a flight back

11:35

home to San Francisco. He needs

11:37

to start marshaling his allies and

11:39

putting together his battle plan. But

11:43

while Altman readies his next move

11:45

delia, such giver and the board

11:47

deal with a fall out of

11:49

their actions within the company itself.

11:58

It's a little after two pm on. Weber

12:00

seventeenth in San Francisco, California.

12:03

Yoyo. Sutzkever walks into a conference

12:05

room and open a Ice headquarters

12:07

only hours after Altman's firing Mira

12:09

Marotta. He's right behind him, along

12:11

with a gaggle of top executives

12:14

who glare at such cover. Such.

12:17

Cover and Marauding. Just finished a disastrous

12:19

All Hands meeting for the entire open

12:21

A I staff. Employee

12:23

after employee ask what Altman

12:25

had done. Such cover.

12:28

Stuck to the company line. That. Altman

12:30

had not been consistently candid with

12:32

the board. But. That

12:34

hadn't satisfied the employees. And.

12:37

Now senior executives of As Sutzkever

12:39

to speak to them privately in

12:41

this conference room. And

12:43

executive points his finger at such cover

12:46

accusingly. This. Is a true

12:48

at know? This was the board making

12:50

sure that open A I fulfills it's

12:52

mission to be beneficial t humanity. I

12:54

understand not sharing with the entire staff

12:56

of we're Your Leadership team We need

12:59

to know what's going on. Another

13:01

executive not. The. Us Attorney's

13:03

Office in Manhattan. Call me right before

13:05

that All Hands meeting. They. Want to

13:08

know what exactly was met by lack of

13:10

candor? They think he did something criminal. A

13:13

young executive chimes in. I already heard from

13:15

one customer they want to know of open

13:17

a eyes stable or if they could lose

13:19

access to chat Gp T overnight. You.

13:22

Know Anthropic and Google are going

13:24

to try to poach our clients

13:26

so to cover holds up his

13:28

hands. He didn't do anything criminal

13:30

and open Ai is stable. We

13:32

don't need Sam to be stable

13:34

or successful. Sell. The customers.

13:36

they have nothing to worry about. The.

13:39

Young executive scoffs. I.

13:41

Think it's gonna take more than just

13:43

bag reassurances we need to give people

13:45

answers. And. If you can't provide them,

13:47

then you need to set up a video call

13:50

with the rest of the board so they can.

13:52

Yeah, that's right. Fine, fine. you want to talk

13:54

to the rest of the board? We can do

13:56

that. Soon.

13:59

the members of the board are on a video

14:01

call at a large screen at the front of

14:03

the room. The executives clamor for

14:07

more information, talking over one another.

14:09

Finally, board member Adam D'Angelo cuts

14:12

through the noise. Look, I

14:14

know you're upset and you're confused, but

14:16

there wasn't one incident. It was just

14:18

a lot of things, and

14:20

we were doing our duty. OpenAI's

14:23

chief strategist, Jason Kwan, steps

14:25

forward. This could kill

14:27

the company, and it can't be

14:29

your duty to let this company die. Board

14:32

member Helen Toner shrugs. The

14:35

destruction of the company could be consistent with

14:37

the board's duty. There's

14:40

stunned silence. After

14:42

a moment, D'Angelo speaks up. We

14:46

should talk to counsel before we say any more.

14:53

Back in Redmond, Washington, Satya

14:55

Nadella is tired of waiting for

14:57

Ilya Sutskiver to come clean. He's

15:00

ready to move on to plan B. It's

15:03

time to get Altman back in, and

15:05

this board out. And

15:09

with Microsoft behind him, Altman

15:11

now has the ammo he needs to

15:13

fight back with everything

15:15

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days. It's

17:03

the morning of Saturday, November 18th in

17:05

San Francisco, California. Sam

17:08

Altman scurries from his kitchen to the front door of

17:10

his house through the front windows.

17:13

He catches sight of Alcatraz out in the Bay. He

17:16

flew back to San Francisco late the night

17:18

before and got straight to work, barely sleeping.

17:21

Key supporters are arriving at his house

17:23

this morning to help him with his

17:25

campaign to get reinstated as CEO. Altman

17:29

opens the front door. Mira Marati,

17:32

open AI's interim CEO is standing on

17:34

his stoop. Altman

17:36

grins. Altman and

17:38

Marati have had their differences. At

17:41

one point, Marati even wrote him a

17:43

memo criticizing his managerial style. She

17:45

complained that he could be manipulative of

17:47

other executives. But

17:50

her past critiques make it all the

17:52

more powerful that she's here fighting by

17:54

his side. Mira, welcome to

17:56

the war room. Come on in. Altman

18:01

leads Marathi into the living room, where about

18:03

a half a dozen people are spread out

18:05

laptops open. Many of

18:08

them are open AI employees, including

18:10

co-founder Greg Brockman. Altman

18:13

claps his hands together to get everyone's attention.

18:16

Everyone, could we all gather in the living room for

18:18

a second? About six

18:20

others take seats in the living room. First

18:24

of all, I want to thank you again for

18:26

being here on a Saturday. It means a lot. I

18:28

just want to make sure we're all on the same page. Our

18:31

overall strategy is to make it clear to

18:34

the board that the current situation is

18:36

untenable and that open AI will fail if

18:38

they don't reinstate me as CEO. Thank

18:42

you. Thank you.

18:44

I think this is within reach. I

18:46

received a call from two board members this morning.

18:48

They asked if I would help stabilize the company.

18:52

Altman smirks. So we just

18:54

need them to see there's only one way to stabilize

18:56

open AI. I come back

18:58

and they go. I

19:01

talked to Satya and Microsoft is willing to

19:03

threaten to withhold some of the cloud computing

19:05

credits they've pledged to open AI. And

19:08

we all know that without Microsoft's computing

19:10

power, open AI will grind to a

19:13

halt. We need to

19:15

coordinate with other investors to threaten to sue

19:17

to add additional pressure. In

19:19

the corner, Brockman grins. We're

19:22

also using the fact that some

19:24

key executives, including yours truly, have

19:26

quit to prove our point. Altman

19:29

nods. Greg put his money

19:31

where his mouth is and resigned last

19:33

night and Yaka Pachaki also resigned. For

19:36

anyone who doesn't know, Yaka was the lead researcher

19:38

on GPT-4. So that's a big

19:40

blow to the company. One

19:43

of Altman's allies raises her hand. I

19:45

think we should be using social media. I

19:47

know X doesn't have the reach it once did,

19:50

but it can still be a powerful tool. That's

19:52

a good idea. We can reach

19:55

out to employees, encourage them to post in support of

19:57

you. Great. I

19:59

Think we have our attack. Light on it Everyone work

20:01

your contacts and again thank you so

20:03

much for being here and having my

20:05

back. Almonds

20:08

War Room gets to work. And

20:11

while Altman in his team prepare their

20:13

offsets, The Open A

20:15

I board meets to discuss. Barracks.

20:22

It's Saturday, November eighteenth. Adam De Angelo

20:24

logs on to a video call with

20:26

the other three open A I board

20:29

members. He has a thin layer of

20:31

stubble and dark circles under his. He

20:34

can't believe that it hasn't even been twenty

20:36

four hours since he and the board fired

20:38

Omen. He knew there would be

20:40

blowback. But he's been shocked

20:42

by just how chaotic the situation has

20:45

become. One. By

20:47

one the other board members log on. The.

20:50

Angelo notes that they all look

20:52

is exhausted is he seals? The.

20:55

Angelo kicks off the meeting. So.

20:58

How's everyone's weekend going right?

21:00

The rest of the board

21:02

oblige him with some small

21:04

chuckles. Look. We're

21:06

all tired and I think this is become

21:08

a much bigger deal than any one was

21:11

expecting. I for one

21:13

will say that I didn't expect see

21:15

press camped outside my house but there

21:17

they are. Death. Is

21:19

I'm here. It's looking

21:21

like the choice is bringing Sam

21:23

back. we're letting open a I

21:25

Die. Helen Toner runs

21:28

or hand to her long dark hair. Is

21:32

often I'd be run safely with

21:34

Sam Altman. And. It will

21:36

fail without him then. Maybe

21:38

it's our duty to let it fail. We.

21:41

Could have Altman come back but

21:43

with less power not let him

21:45

B C E O hold board

21:47

seat before we left his company.

21:50

Guys remember that we all believed

21:52

in open A I at one

21:54

point including Ealier. Subscriber:

21:56

Nods glumly. Bad.

21:58

Meeting with the leaders, Yesterday was rough,

22:01

but we still have power here, all

22:03

my wants back in and he wants

22:05

us out, but we can refuse to

22:07

do either of those things until we

22:09

approve. The new board members. We.

22:11

Can find board members who have the experience

22:13

in gravitas to stand up to Sam and

22:15

hold him accountable. Several.

22:17

Of the other board members nod in agreement.

22:20

Toner. Isn't totally

22:22

convinced? Five less Dr.

22:25

Sam divide into the office. Maybe

22:27

we can reach an agreement that will

22:29

satisfy our concerns about staying true to

22:31

opening eyes founding principles, That

22:33

we had also look for a new

22:36

cel someone we know shares our values.

22:38

The. Angelo nods. And

22:40

I make sense to me. The

22:44

next day, Sam Altman arrives at Open

22:47

A I headquarters along with see members

22:49

of the Open A I executive team

22:51

who are his allies. He posts to

22:54

sell C to X wearing a visitor's

22:56

badge. He. Comments that it's the

22:58

first. And. Last time you were

23:00

one. The. Angelo

23:02

and Sutzkever have arrived to represent the

23:05

board. The. Negotiations

23:07

stretch on all day. Altman

23:10

will only return to the company of

23:12

the current board is out, but the

23:14

board will only agree to resign if

23:17

they approve of the new board members.

23:19

They insist that the new board members

23:21

must be able to hold Altman accountable.

23:24

But. They can't agree on any names. Both

23:27

sides are dug in. With.

23:30

Word The Stand Off: Anxious open A

23:32

I employees flocked to the office on

23:35

a Sunday. Reporters camped out in front

23:37

of the building, noting deliveries of mobile

23:39

T and Mix. A

23:42

while the negotiating with open. To.

23:44

Beard reaches out to potential permanent

23:47

replacements for the Ceo job. And

23:50

the Ceo of Anthropic who once worked

23:52

for open A i quickly turns down

23:54

as do the Ceos of tech companies

23:57

get hub and scale. And.

24:00

Everyone waits for the combatants to

24:02

leave their foxholes. It's

24:07

just before 9 p.m. on Sunday, November 19, 2023

24:09

in San Francisco. About

24:13

a dozen OpenAI employees sit in

24:15

the main office area at headquarters,

24:17

waiting and worrying. Finally,

24:22

Sutsgiver walks into the main office

24:24

area. The employees sit

24:26

up straight and snap their laptop shut. Over

24:31

the past 36 hours, myself and the

24:33

other board members have heard your outcry.

24:36

However, the board stands by our

24:38

decision to let Altman go. Emmet

24:43

Scheer has agreed to serve as CEO. Scheer

24:46

founded Twitch, the streaming video site.

24:49

He has a vision that aligns

24:51

with OpenAI's founding mission to build

24:53

safe, responsible AI. He'll

24:56

be coming by the office tonight. Everyone

24:59

silently processes what Sutsgiver just

25:02

said. They

25:04

gather up their belongings and leave the

25:07

building. This

25:09

is not the outcome these

25:11

OpenAI employees wanted. The

25:14

way they see it, there is

25:16

no OpenAI without Altman.

25:19

And they're not the only ones who feel this way. It's

25:28

just after 9 p.m. in Redmond, Washington.

25:31

Satya Nadella sits in his home office staring

25:33

at his computer. He's

25:36

bouncing between the social media posts of

25:38

tech reporters and coverage of India's victory

25:40

in the Cricket World Cup finals. His

25:43

phone buzzes. Just another

25:45

Microsoft executive. What do

25:48

you think about the Emmet Scheer news? I

25:50

think it's time to officially move to Plan C. I

25:54

agree. I'll call Sam

25:56

and start getting into what it would take for

25:58

him to restart OpenAI. within

26:01

Microsoft. Nadella

26:03

hangs up and calls Altman.

26:07

The board may think this is over but

26:10

to Nadella that's far from

26:12

the case and no

26:14

matter what happens Nadella

26:17

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26:26

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26:38

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26:40

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26:42

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26:44

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26:46

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26:48

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28:01

gold card It's

28:20

almost 10 p.m. on Sunday, November 19th,

28:22

in San Francisco. Ilya

28:25

Sutskovar steps off the elevator into

28:27

open A.I.'s headquarters. Behind

28:29

him is Emmet Shear. In

28:32

his early 40s, Shear has thinning brown

28:34

hair, thick-rimmed glasses, and stubble. Thanks

28:37

for coming in on a Sunday. I

28:39

just think it's really important that the employees

28:41

get to meet you ASAP. It's been a

28:43

lot. I totally agree. But

28:48

as the men enter the main bullpen of

28:50

the open A.I. office, the place

28:52

is deserted. Sutskovar looks

28:54

at Shear, embarrassed. As sorry,

28:57

I really thought some people would be here.

29:01

We can reconvene again tomorrow. But

29:05

what Sutskovar doesn't know is

29:08

that open A.I. employees are working

29:10

on their own plan to get

29:12

Altman back as CEO. That

29:17

same day, an open A.I.

29:19

employee lies in bed, staring at

29:22

the ceiling. He's exhausted,

29:24

but he can't sleep. He's

29:26

obsessing over what's happening at open A.I.

29:28

and what it means for him, the

29:30

company, for the future of A.I. His

29:34

phone vibrates on his bedside table. He

29:38

rolls over and checks the caller I.D. It's

29:41

a long time open A.I. researcher. A

29:43

pang of anxiety jolts through the employee. What's

29:46

happening now? Hey,

29:49

man. I hope I didn't wake you. Nah, I can't

29:51

sleep. I

29:53

hear you. Anyway, you saw that

29:55

announcement that Microsoft hired Sam and Greg, right?

29:57

Yeah. Well,

30:01

me and a couple of the other old

30:03

timers drafted an open letter to the board

30:05

saying unless they reinstate Sam we're going to

30:07

follow him to Microsoft and now we're calling

30:09

everyone and asking them to sign. The

30:13

employee hesitates. Well

30:15

the thing is I really don't want

30:17

to work for Microsoft. They

30:19

move so slow. There's

30:21

a reason I chose to work for a startup, you know?

30:25

Totally man. The idea isn't that we'll go

30:27

to work for Microsoft, it's to force the

30:29

board's hand. The

30:32

employee still isn't sure. He

30:34

hears what his colleague is saying but something

30:37

about it doesn't sit right. Look,

30:39

this only works if we get a critical mass

30:41

of employees to sign. I really need you to

30:43

do this. Yeah,

30:46

okay. I'm

30:48

in. I'll sign. It's

30:54

just after 10 p.m. in San Francisco. Gilea

30:59

Sutskivir wanders the OpenAI offices

31:02

alone. As

31:04

Sutskivir rounds the corner, he

31:06

practically runs into Anna Brockman, the

31:08

wife of OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman.

31:11

Her eyes are red and glassy like

31:14

she's been crying. Sutskivir

31:16

steps back, startled. Anna?

31:21

Brockman wipes her eyes. Gilea.

31:25

There's an awkward pause. Then

31:28

Brockman takes a deep breath. Gilea,

31:30

what are you doing? This is a mess.

31:33

I know, but I had a duty.

31:36

To destroy OpenAI? That can't

31:38

be right. I know you,

31:40

Gilea. You officiated our wedding.

31:43

This can't be what you wanted to happen. No.

31:47

Brockman steps closer, only a few

31:49

inches from Sutskivir. Then

31:52

fix it. Please, Gilea.

31:55

Everyone respects you. If you want

31:57

this to stop, you can make it stop. You

32:00

can convince the board to bring Sam back. Please!

32:04

Susciver bites his lip. I

32:07

have to go. Susciver

32:10

moves past her to the exit. The

32:15

next morning, the OpenAI employees release

32:17

their open letter to the board,

32:19

threatening to quit and join Altman's

32:21

new venture with Microsoft. More

32:24

than 550 of OpenAI's 770 employees have signed it. And

32:30

there's one name that stands out. Ilya

32:34

Susciver. He backs

32:36

up his signature on the letter with a

32:38

post on X. I

32:40

deeply regret my participation in the

32:42

board's actions. I never intended

32:45

to harm OpenAI. I

32:47

love everything we have built together, and

32:49

I will do everything I can to

32:51

reunite the company. But

32:54

while Susciver may have been swayed

32:56

by the passion of OpenAI's employees

32:59

and his conversation with Anna Brockman,

33:02

the rest of the board is

33:04

furious. Monday,

33:12

November 20th, 2023. The

33:15

three board members who didn't sign the letter

33:18

log into a video meeting. Tasha

33:21

McCauley kicks things off. So,

33:24

the plot thickens. Helen

33:26

Toner shakes her head. What

33:28

was Ilya thinking? He's the

33:30

one who was adamant that Sam had to go in the

33:32

first place. I don't know, and I

33:34

don't think we can spend too much time thinking about

33:37

it. I think we need to

33:39

stay focused on what we're going to do now. I

33:41

don't know about you all, but I

33:44

don't respond well to ultimatum, so this

33:46

letter doesn't really change my perspective. I'm

33:48

not giving the keys of the kingdom to

33:51

Sam Altman without significant guardrails. How

34:00

many. Good.

34:04

Toner. Nods. I agree, But

34:06

what are we going to do now? Do.

34:09

We continue to support. My

34:12

family great basically. You restart open

34:14

a I within microsoft. To

34:17

me that feels even more dangerous.

34:19

Microsoft doesn't have any kind of

34:21

charter saying the technology. It develops

34:23

has to be beneficial to humanity. The

34:27

group is silent for a moment as they

34:29

consider. Then. Macaulay

34:31

ships into seat. I.

34:34

Think we have to try to negotiate with

34:36

see him again. By. But.

34:39

We stick to our guns on the

34:41

replacement board members. We agree to nothing

34:43

unless we're confident that the new board

34:46

members can keep Altman in check. Macaulay

34:49

and Toner nod in agreement. By

34:54

Tuesday, November twenty first, the board

34:57

returns to negotiations. Bread Taylor, former

34:59

Ceo of Salesforce and and Eggs

35:01

Twitter board members brought in to

35:03

serve as a neutral mediator. Sam

35:05

Altman brings his friend Air B

35:07

N B C E O Brian

35:09

Cesc either help him and Image

35:11

Sheer and Adam the Antelope sit

35:14

on the opposite side of the

35:16

table. A discussion stretch on throughout

35:18

the day with no movement. Made

35:22

that evening news breaks. The

35:25

two sides agree on three new board

35:27

members. Current board member

35:29

Adam De Angelo was day on.

35:31

Toner Mccauley and such cover will

35:34

all step down. Bread

35:36

Taylor will join the board. He's

35:38

considered a veteran Silicon Valley player

35:40

who oversaw the sale of Twitter

35:42

to Elon Musk. With his experience,

35:44

De Angelo in the other original

35:46

Open A I board members are

35:48

confident that he can stand up

35:50

to Altman. The

35:53

third new member is Lawrence. Summers

35:55

are trained economist. Summers served as

35:57

Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton

36:00

and was later the President of

36:02

Harvard. Like. Taylor? See

36:04

someone De Angelo and his colleagues

36:06

believe won't be intimidated by often?

36:10

To. Altman These are serious business

36:12

man who understand economic realities of

36:14

running a company like open A

36:17

I. More board

36:19

members will be added later. But

36:21

this. Will. Form the core of

36:23

the new board. At

36:26

ten or one, the official open a

36:28

I X account posts and update. Sam

36:32

Altman is back. As.

36:35

Soon as the news goes live,

36:37

open A I employees stream back

36:39

to the office to celebrate. His

36:45

leg at night on Tuesday November. Twenty

36:47

First Twenty Twenty Three open. A I

36:49

cofounder Greg Bra Straps and a company

36:52

has. Slices of

36:54

hard and completely blasting music and a

36:56

half. Rocklin

36:59

Greens meets the hundreds of staffers.

37:01

These are his people and he's

37:03

thrilled with the that. He raises

37:05

hand above his head and yells

37:07

to be heard over the music.

37:12

For it's host. These

37:16

past five days for a roller.

37:20

There. Were times when we saw we were

37:22

down that the open a I we

37:24

know and Love was gone. For.

37:26

We're still here says so

37:28

here are are stronger than

37:31

ever that some of the

37:33

dread still the same. Clock

37:37

and close by. Takes out

37:39

as well. As.

37:43

A whole group crowds in

37:46

their faces, glistening with sweat,

37:48

their grin spanning from ear

37:51

to ear. Or three. One

37:53

three. Snaps

37:55

the photo and posted to x with a

37:57

caption. We're so bad. The

38:00

whole. Range.

38:05

We will open a I employees see

38:07

this is a victory. It's

38:09

rivals see this as an opening.

38:13

For the first time since the company released

38:15

Chat G B T, three Point Five and

38:17

took the Ai industry by store. Open

38:20

A I seems. Well.

38:26

He chooses November Twenty eight, Twenty three,

38:28

and Las Vegas, Nevada. Amazon

38:31

Web Services Ceo Adam Celebs strides onto

38:33

the stage of the Venetian Hotel and

38:35

Resort. He wears a suit with no

38:38

tie and a pair of black and

38:40

white sneakers. The. Theater is

38:42

bills and behind a giant

38:44

screen projects and array of

38:46

colors with the words A

38:48

W S Reinvent. Eight

38:51

it would. U S is a powerful

38:53

company dominating the cloud space, but it's

38:56

always been considered a straggler and the

38:58

A I race. But.

39:00

Now after the days of turmoil

39:02

it open A I celeb ski

39:04

season opportunity to tout the advantages

39:06

A would U S has over

39:08

open A I Am Microsoft Said

39:11

or a celebrity talks about how

39:13

people are discovering A I then

39:15

makes a veiled jab at Microsoft

39:17

for in twining itself so completely

39:19

with Open A I and Chat

39:22

Gp T. There's. Not going

39:24

to be one model to rule them all. And.

39:26

They're certainly not going to be one company

39:28

providing the model that everybody use. And

39:31

you need a real choice of lot of

39:33

provider as you decide to go the death

39:35

technology but authors who had the dependability that

39:37

you need and of this is partner I

39:39

think the events of the past ten days

39:41

or say that is very clear. The

39:45

marks against open a I are

39:47

clear is not stable minutes no

39:49

longer the company that value safety

39:51

the most. And

39:54

is Altman formally returns as Open

39:56

A Eyes Ceo. He finds that

39:58

Open A I. Isn't the

40:01

indestructible leader it once was?

40:03

And the debate over safety

40:05

versus commercialization. Is

40:08

it going

40:11

Iniquitous? From

40:20

wondering this is episode two of Sam

40:23

Altman in the Battle for Open A

40:25

I for Business wars up with note

40:27

about recreations you been hearing in most

40:29

cases which. Seems

40:32

with as a sense, but they're

40:34

based on historical research. If you'd

40:36

like to read more, we recommend

40:38

Fencing to Exile to Sing again

40:40

The inside story of Sam Altman

40:42

Swift last Week by Paris Martin

40:44

Oh and Julia Black published in

40:46

The Information Also inside Open a

40:48

eyes crisis over the future of

40:50

artificial. Intelligence Patriot Missile Cade Met Mike,

40:52

Isaac and Karen Weiss published in the

40:54

New York Times. The inside story of

40:57

Microsoft partnership with Open A I by

40:59

Charles Do His published in The New

41:01

York Inside The Chaos. It Open A

41:03

I by Karen How and Charles Woodson

41:05

published by The Atlantic and behind the

41:08

scenes of Sam Altman. So Down and

41:10

Open A I Buy Seats a Deep

41:12

Sleeper See the Ramen and Virgin published

41:14

by the Wall Street Journal. I'm.

41:17

Your Host David Brown Austin Reckless

41:19

wrote the story Current low as

41:21

our senior producer and editor. Edited

41:23

and produced by Emily Frost. Sound

41:26

design by Kyle Randall Voice acting

41:28

by Ryan Clarke Justin leaves many

41:30

murali lose more He and Michelle

41:32

seventy fact checking by Gabrielle to

41:34

alleged are managing producer is Matt

41:36

Get are coordinating producers Desi blame

41:38

on our senior managing producers Ryan

41:41

More our senior producer is Dave

41:43

Schilling are executive producers or Jenny

41:45

Lauer, Beckman and More so. Louis

41:47

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