From my book Obsolete: One former senior colleague described Altman as aspiring to become “a great man of history,” not on the scale of Steve Jobs, but rather Churchill or Napoleon—“like one of the people who shaped the century or the millennium.”

Vanity Fair asked Sam Altman how he wanted history books to think of him. Altman says he doesn't think in those terms, but that's not what I've heard.

Q for @openai: if these firings weren't about raising safety concerns, why didn't the representative under oath say so definitively?

terminations." Two days later, a company spokesperson shared a staff memo from a safety leader with the WSJ saying the decisions to fire the workers “were not about raising safety concerns or speaking out.”

It's interesting that, while under oath, OpenAI's representative at the NYC Council hearings professed to not know anything about why the company fired 3 safety researchers the previous week, even when pressed specifically by Speaker Menin on "whether safety-related advocacy played any role in these

I still haven't heard a good explanation about why these researchers were fired, and OpenAI hasn't widely shared information on the firing internally, per people familiar. Without providing more of an explanation, the firings will clearly have a chilling effect on staff.

Great scoop from Max: after OpenAI fired them, the 3 safety researchers wrote a letter to leadership. One of the company's safety leaders "strongly agreed" with the letter's recommendations, but maintained the firings “were not about raising safety concerns or speaking out.”

Here are some highlights: Alex Bores (“a masterpiece”), Krystal Ball (“Incisive, urgent, and necessary”), Daron Acemoglu (“timely and engaging”), Nathan J. Robinson (“essential for understanding what the real risks of AI are”), and Luke Kemp (“The best book I’ve read on AI.)

Amidst the never-ending-AI-news-cycle, I’ve done a terrible job of sharing these endorsements as they’ve come in, but I’ve felt so lucky that Obsolete has received such kind words from so many people I admire.

The nonprofit is organizing a national walkout to Freeze AI on October 20. Anyone can join one near them or host their own.

Founded by veterans of the climate movement, Irreplaceable aims to meet people where they are, organize their anger into political power, and build a coalition strong enough to win democratic control over AI.