The company that created ChatGPT was thrown into turmoil Monday after Microsoft hired its ousted CEO and many employees threatened to follow him in a conflict that centered in part on how to build artificial intelligence that’s smarter than humans.

The developments followed a weekend of drama that shocked the AI field and fueled speculation about the future of OpenAI, which named a new chief executive on Friday and then replaced her on Sunday. The newest CEO vowed to investigate the firing of co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, who’s been instrumental in OpenAI’s transformation from a nonprofit research laboratory into a world-renowned commercial startup that inaugurated the era of generative artificial intelligence.

Microsoft, which has been a close partner of the company and invested billions of dollars in it, announced that Altman and OpenAI’s former president, Greg Brockman, would lead its new advanced AI research team. Brockman, also an OpenAI co-founder, quit in protest after Altman was fired.

Hundreds of OpenAI employees, including other top executives, threatened to join them at Microsoft in an open letter addressed to OpenAI’s four-member board that called for the board’s resignation and Altman’s return.

“If the architects and vision and brains behind these products have now left, the company will be a shell of what it once was,” said Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute. “All of that brain trust going to Microsoft will then mean that these impressive tools will be coming out of Microsoft. It will be hard to see OpenAI continue to thrive as a company.”

File – Sam Altman participates in a discussion during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in San Francisco. The board of ChatGPT-maker Open AI says it has pushed out Altman, its co-founder and CEO, and replaced him with an interim CEO. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Eric Risberg

FILE – Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks on Nov. 15, 2023, in San Francisco. Despite a rift between the key players behind ChatGPT and the company they helped build, both former Twitch leader Emmet Shear and Nadella said they are committed to a partnership. Microsoft snapped up Sam Altman and another architect of ChatGPT maker OpenAI for a new venture after their sudden departures shocked the artificial intelligence world. It’s also left OpenAI’s new CEO to paper over tensions by vowing to investigate Altman’s firing. The developments come Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 after a weekend of drama and speculation about how the power dynamics would shake out at OpenAI. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, file)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Eric Risberg

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was “extremely excited” to bring on the pair and looked “forward to getting to know” the new management team at OpenAI.

Altman later said on X that his top priority with Nadella is to ensure that OpenAI “continues to thrive” and that it is committed to “fully providing continuity of operations to our partners and customers.”

OpenAI said Friday that Altman was pushed out after a review found he was “not consistently candid in his communications” with the board of directors, which had lost confidence in his ability to lead the company.

In an X post Monday, OpenAI’s new interim chief executive, Emmett Shear, said he would hire an independent investigator to look into Altman’s ouster and write a report within 30 days.

“It’s clear that the process and communications around Sam’s removal” were handled “very badly,” wrote Shear, who co-founded Twitch, an Amazon-owned livestreaming service popular with video gamers.

He said he also plans in the next month to “reform the management and leadership team in light of recent departures.” After that, Shear said, he would “drive changes in the organization,” including “significant governance changes if necessary.”

Originally started as a nonprofit, and still governed as one, OpenAI’s stated mission is to safely build AI that is “generally smarter than humans.” Debates have swirled around that goal and whether it conflicts with the company’s increasing commercial success.

The reason behind the board’s removal of Altman was not a “specific disagreement on safety,” nor does the board oppose commercialization of AI models, Shear said.

OpenAI last week declined to answer questions about Altman’s alleged lack of candor. The company’s statement said his behavior was hindering the board’s ability to exercise its responsibilities.

A key driver of the shakeup, OpenAI’s co-founder, chief scientist and board member Ilya Sutskever, expressed regrets for his participation in the ouster.

“I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we’ve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company,” he said Monday on X.

The open letter began circulating Monday. According to a copy obtained by The Associated Press, the number of signatures amounted to a majority of the company’s 770 employees. The AP was not able to independently confirm that all of the signatures were from OpenAI employees.

“Everyone at @OpenAI is united,” one of the signatories, research scientist Noam Brown, said on X. “This is not a civil war. Unless Sam and Greg are brought back, there will be no OpenAI left to govern.”

The letter alleged that after Altman’s firing, the company’s remaining executive team had recommended that the board resign and be replaced with a “qualified board” that could stabilize the company. But the board resisted and said allowing OpenAI to be destroyed would be consistent with its mission, according to the letter.

OpenAI has said since its 2015 founding that its goal is to advance AI in a way that benefits all humanity.

A company spokesperson confirmed that the board received the letter.

Microsoft declined to comment on the letter.

After Altman was pushed out, he stirred speculation about coming back into the fold in a series of tweets. He posted a selfie with an OpenAI guest pass Sunday, saying this is “first and last time i ever wear one of these.”

Hours earlier, he tweeted, “i love the openai team so much,” which drew heart replies from Brockman and Mira Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer who was initially named as interim CEO.

It’s not clear what transpired between the announcement of Murati’s interim role Friday and Shear’s hiring, though she was among several employees Monday who tweeted, “OpenAI is nothing without its people.” Altman replied to many with heart emojis.

The board consists of Sutskever, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner of the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology. None of them responded to calls or emails seeking comment. Because of its nonprofit structure, the board differs from most startup boards that are typically led by investors.

Altman helped catapult ChatGPT to global fame based on its ability to respond to questions and produce human-like passages of text in a seemingly natural way.

In the past year, he has become Silicon Valley’s most in-demand voice on the promise and potential dangers of artificial intelligence.

Earlier this year, he went on a world tour to meet with government officials, drawing big crowds at public events as he discussed the risks of AI and attempts to regulate the emerging technology.

But as money poured into OpenAI this year, helping to advance its development of more capable AI, it also brought more conflict around whether that fast pace of commercialization fit with the startup’s founding vision, said Kreps, the Cornell University professor. But rather than slow that pace, Altman’s ouster may simply shift it out of OpenAI.

Altman “really has a walk-on-water aura, and I think a lot of it is well deserved,” Kreps said. “He’s the one who has attracted the investment, and he’ll do that wherever it is.”

Microsoft’s shares rose 2% on Monday and hit an all-time high.

The AP and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement allowing OpenAI access to part of the AP’s text archives.

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Associated Press writers Brian P. D. Hannon in Bangkok and Haleluya Hadero in New York contributed to this report.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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When the pandemic broke out, crowds of people who settled inside rushed outside to have puppies.

It was then that Lynnet Spiegel knew she had to figure out how to get her pet store outside.

Fortunately, San Francisco officials created Shared Spaces, a program that allowed parking lots, sidewalks, and other public spaces to be used for commercial activities – commonly known as parklets.

Spiegel was thrilled. She hired a contractor and spent $ 20,000 on a parklet in front of Jeffrey’s Natural Pet Foods on Powell Street between Joe DiMaggio Park and Washington Square. There she hosted puppy socials, training courses, and other events for new dog owners in the neighborhood.

But it has become more difficult for the pet store.

Almost 18 months since she built her parklet, Spiegel recently received several quotes threatening fines if she doesn’t make structural changes, including lowering the side walls, moving plant pots off the sidewalk, and trimming the roof.

The parklet – and maybe their business – could be in jeopardy.

“I’m fighting Amazon and Chewy and I’m trying to keep a brick and mortar store open,” said Spiegel. “The only way for me to stay alive is to have other customer incentives than just buying groceries.”

Spiegel is not alone. As the Parklet program becomes a permanent fixture on the streets of San Francisco, tensions are simmering between city authorities, who are forced to impose a semblance of order on what is largely an ad hoc system, and traders, who are still emerging from the pandemic recover.

“As we are moving into a permanent program, the quickly built structures have to adapt to long-term use,” said Robin Abad, who heads the Parklet initiative. “We have turned a crisis response into a permanent opportunity to redesign the use of our roads for the benefit of the people who live, work and visit here.”

The Examiner spoke to business owners in North Beach and Chinatown, two neighborhoods where parklets were essential to the survival of commercial corridors, about the uncertain future of these outdoor spaces.

When parklets first hit the streets last summer, they were a boon to traders. Many said this was the only way to survive the lull in protection on the ground. According to the Shared Spaces website, at least 1,800 requests were approved, of which over 1,000 were for the parking lane.

It was also totally free-for-all.

Parklets ran all along the line in terms of design and durability. Random floors and ramshackle roofs were one end of the spectrum. On the other side were sprawling buildings adorned with lights, speakers, and decorations.

Initially there were bare guidelines, but enforcement was lackluster. Some community members have raised concerns about compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, traffic disruption, and first-aid access.

A law on the permanent use of sidewalks, parking lots and other parts of public space was introduced by Mayor London Breed in March and subsequently passed by the Board of Directors. Its aim is to enable companies to benefit from outdoor dining beyond the pandemic, and to codify stricter rules and regulations for parklets.

Abad said the passing of the law has given the city an opportunity to enforce compliance in some security-related areas now rather than waiting for the permanent version of the program to go fully into effect next year.

Notices of violations and fines are currently only issued to parklets in urgent need of repair to restore emergency access, particularly potential obstacles for fire departments to reach the building and comply with ADA rules, he said.

All other violations are expected to be lifted by July 2022.

When Chelsea Hung received an injury notice giving her 14 days to make structural changes to her parklet or risk fines of up to $ 500 a day, she was devastated believing she was meeting all fire safety and accessibility concerns .

Hung spent over $ 5,000 building the parklet in front of Washington Bakery and Restaurant, the business near Portsmouth Square that her family has owned and run for 25 years. She has modified the parklet several times since it was first built to accommodate changing city guidelines.

Given this recent injury – one Hung doesn’t quite understand because she says it’s written in a technocratic slang referring to city codes – she wonders if it would be easier to tear down the parklet instead.

Chelsa Hung, whose family has owned the Washington Bakery and Restaurant in Chinatown for decades, said she was surprised to receive an infringement notice from The City regarding the restaurant’s parklet. (Kevin N. Hume / The Examiner)

“We don’t know if the rules will keep changing,” she said. “We are faced with this dilemma of whether to continue investing in outdoor restaurants.”

Spiegel could face a similar dilemma. Her quotes require her to slightly reduce the size of her parklet, a move she says would force her to reduce the size of her puppy training classes.

“That wouldn’t be feasible,” she said. “It’s intolerable.”

Dealers agreed that fixing fire and accessibility issues is key to keeping the streets and residents of San Francisco safe, but they expressed dismay at how many of their violations fall into those buckets, especially after a year and a half with no problems.

“I think the confusion was that it was given piecemeal and it was given afterwards,” said Hanna Suleiman, who owns Caffe Greco on Columbus Avenue. “Nobody came to say, ‘You could do this and you couldn’t.’ They gave people the opportunity to do what they wanted and now they are coming back after over a year. “

Hanna Suleiman, owner of Caffe Greco, built the parklet in front of his North Beach restaurant before the pandemic broke out. (Kevin N. Hume / The Examiner)

Suleiman’s Parklet dates from before the pandemic. It was built in 2010 as one of the first publicly accessible parklets in the city, taking strict design and construction quality criteria into account. During the pandemic, he expanded it to include four motorcycle zone spaces and added a roof.

Now, he says, he is being asked to “follow guidelines that I was not aware of” within 10 days or face fines. He spent about $ 9,000 on the parklet during the COVID-19 crisis, and he believes he would have to spend up to an additional $ 5,000 to adapt it to the new code.

“I think there should be guidelines, no question about it, but there should be reasonable guidelines,” Suleiman said. “The idea was that this was built to help small businesses and now it is going to destroy small businesses.”

Several vendors told the Examiner that they could not decipher something as basic as the messages themselves and that they had received little help from the city. They said various quotes were from multiple agencies with no clear point of contact, and when they turned to numerous email addresses, they would hear nothing or waver between people for weeks.

Some of those who want to do this but need more time due to ongoing delivery bottlenecks, rising construction costs and staff shortages have not heard of possible extensions.

“It’s a total communications breakdown where businesses are being told contradicting things week after week and The City is failing to coordinate a unified, helpful approach to compliance,” said Aaron Peskin, supervisor of the North Beach and Chinatown borough belong.

Officials acknowledge the transition was confusing.

Abad told The Examiner that starting this month, departments will be issuing notifications to dealers in a single package with a cover sheet to help business owners “understand what they need to fix and create a plan for it.”

cgraf@sfexaminer.com

ChinatownnewsNorth BeachSmall Businesses

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