# OpenAI fires Sam Altman (and others leave also)(and now rehired) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** ai\ **Created:** [November 18, 2023, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/openai-fires-sam-altman-and-others-leave-also-and-now-rehired/993324 "2023-11-18T12:56:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2024, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/openai-fires-sam-altman-and-others-leave-also-and-now-rehired/993324/41 "2024-06-19T18:16:51Z")
Sutskever is starting a new company: > **[Safe Superintelligence Inc.](https://ssi.inc/)** > > The world's first straight-shot SSI lab, with one goal and one product: a safe superintelligence. See the Hacker News discussion for more information/discussion: > **[Ilya Sutskever starts Safe Superintelligence Inc](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40730156)** > > 339 points — > 170 comments — > nick\_pou — > 5:06 PM - 19 Jun 2024 ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/openai-fires-sam-altman-and-others-leave-also-and-now-rehired/993324/42 "2024-09-04T17:16:18Z")
And he has now raised some serious funding: > **[Sutskever strikes AI gold with billion-dollar backing for superintelligent AI](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/09/sutskever-strikes-ai-gold-with-billion-dollar-backing-for-superintelligent-ai/)** > > Top venture firms back SSI to develop "safe" AI with teams in Palo Alto and Tel Aviv. This surprises me: although I would expect venture capital firms to phonily talk about how much they support AI safety, I wouldn’t expect them to actually provide serious cash to back it. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/openai-fires-sam-altman-and-others-leave-also-and-now-rehired/993324/43 "2024-09-04T17:25:49Z")
OpenAI started with similar goals. Maybe these investors are hoping for the same result. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/openai-fires-sam-altman-and-others-leave-also-and-now-rehired/993324/44 "2025-01-06T16:43:59Z")
[OpenAI is losing money on its pricey ChatGPT Pro plan, CEO Sam Altman says | TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/05/openai-is-losing-money-on-its-pricey-chatgpt-pro-plan-ceo-sam-altman-says/) > OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Sunday said that the company is currently losing money on its $200-per-month [ChatGPT Pro](https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/05/openai-confirms-its-new-200-plan-chatgpt-pro-which-includes-reasoning-models-and-more/) plan because people are using it more than the company expected. > > “I personally chose the price,” Altman [wrote](https://x.com/sama/status/1876104315296968813) in a series of posts on X, “and thought we would make some money.” > OpenAI isn’t profitable, despite having raised [around $20 billion](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/openai) since its founding. The company reportedly [expected](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/27/openai-sees-5-billion-loss-this-year-on-3point7-billion-in-revenue.html) losses of about $5 billion on revenue of $3.7 billion last year. Gonna have to raise that price point a bit, Sam. Wonder how elastic demand is. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/openai-fires-sam-altman-and-others-leave-also-and-now-rehired/993324/45 "2025-01-06T17:26:17Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Gonna have to raise that price point a bit, Sam. Wonder how elastic demand is. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/eYWYgTjMQh4/hqdefault.jpg "Stringer Bell explains "elastic product"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYWYgTjMQh4) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/openai-fires-sam-altman-and-others-leave-also-and-now-rehired/993324/46 "2025-01-06T17:43:41Z")
Some of the best scenes came out of Stringer Bell running a legitimate business. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/openai-fires-sam-altman-and-others-leave-also-and-now-rehired/993324/47 "2025-01-06T17:52:20Z")
[“N\*\*\*\*r, is you taking notes on a criminal fucking conspiracy?”](https://youtu.be/t9NyVZWuVcQ?si=HrIEy-gglo-qsfyo) He was definitely the Michael Corleone figure of _The Wire_ except he didn’t know how to deal with white collar corruption. He should have put a horse’s head in his building contractor’s bed and framed Clay Davis with a dead prostitute (“Sheeeeeeeeet!) but failing to take out Omar and Brother Mouzone was his ultimate downfall. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/openai-fires-sam-altman-and-others-leave-also-and-now-rehired/993324/48 "2025-01-06T20:04:08Z")
Stringer Bell thought he was smarter - and perhaps better - than the people around him, including Avon (who knew it). ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/openai-fires-sam-altman-and-others-leave-also-and-now-rehired/993324/49 "2025-01-06T20:12:52Z")
And Sam Altman seems to believe that he is smarter than everyone else, and indeed, he has been canny enough the people who oppose him on the basis of safety and reliability removed, and indeed, the original safety board disbanded and replaced with his handpicked supplicants (initially including himself, although ‘graciously’ stepped down to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest). Altman is clearly one of the “smartest guys in the room”, in a manner invoking Enron and WorldCom. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/openai-fires-sam-altman-and-others-leave-also-and-now-rehired/993324/50 "2025-01-06T20:52:09Z")
And for you naysayers here: > **We are now confident we know how to build AGI as we have traditionally understood it.** We believe that, in 2025, we may see the first AI agents “join the workforce” and materially change the output of companies. > **[Reflections](https://blog.samaltman.com/reflections)** > > The second birthday of ChatGPT was only a little over a month ago, and now we have transitioned into the next paradigm of models that can do complex reasoning. New years get people in a reflective... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/openai-fires-sam-altman-and-others-leave-also-and-now-rehired/993324.md?page=2)