OpenAI increasingly looks like a messianic one-man band

In an X post, Altman (pictured) published an internal email. “When Mira informed me this morning that she was leaving, I was saddened but of course support her decision,” he wrote, referring to OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, who had announced her departure from the company on X late yesterday. “I’m stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration,” she wrote. It’s not you, it’s me.

But that wasn’t the only departure Altman had to lament in his email. “I also want to share that Bob and Barret have decided to depart OpenAI,” he added. “Mira, Bob, and Barret made these decisions independently of each other and amicably, but the timing of Mira’s decision was such that it made sense to now do this all at once, so that we can work together for a smooth handover to the next generation of leadership.” Whatever you say, boss.

He was referring to Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew, who said on X that “it’s time for me to take a break,” and VP of Research Barrett Zoph, who Xed: “This is a personal decision based on how I want to evolve the next phase of my career.” What an amazing coincidence that all three independently suddenly felt such a strong need for more me-time on the exact same day. Even more so that their independent messaging corresponded so closely with that of their former boss.

It has been less than a year since Altman was unceremoniously deposed as CEO by a board apparently worried about his reckless and Quixotic determination to achieve artificial general intelligence as soon as possible, with little apparent regard for the potentially catastrophic consequences. While he was soon restored with a lot of help from Microsoft, the shockwaves continue to reverberate.

Murati was among the senior execs to quickly express regret for their involvement in the coup, insisting “OpenAI is nothing without it’s people”. How intriguing that sentiment feels now. Another was co-founder Ilya Sutskever, who said “I will do everything I can to reunite the company.” Sutskever left OpenAI half a year later to found a company tellingly called Safe Superintelligence.

Coinciding with all this spontaneous soul-searching among Open AI’s senior boffins was a published diatribe from Altman earlier this week, which attempted to paint a picture of future in which all our problems would be solved if we would only surrender to the god-like benevolence of AI. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that OpenAI is going to focus on profit from now on in order to improve returns for investors, Microsoft chief among them. Altman himself will reportedly also get equity for the first time, presumably to further incentivise him to chase profit.

What OpenAI’s other investors make of all this is anyone’s guess, but it must be testing their nerve. Radio Free Mobile observes that OpenAI’s self-valuation of $150 billion seems very high and that “OpenAI is no longer miles ahead of the competition and with Meta’s party-blowing release of its flagship model.”

The company still has lots going for it, not least it’s ‘partnership’ with Microsoft and the Copilot AI product that's imposed on all Windows and Office users. But it’s a shadow of its former self regarding the research and engineering side of things and is at significant risk of losing the very race Altman seems obsessed with. Maybe that’s something the rest of the world should be grateful for.