OpenAI's chief scientist is in an awkward position, and Musk throws an olive branch
IT Home reported on December 10 that Ilya Sutskever, chief scientist and co-founder of OpenAI, is currently in an embarrassing situation. Last month, he joined the board of directors in voting to fire CEO Sam Altman, but just five days later, Mr. Altman returned to his role with strong support from employees and investors.
A recent report pointed out that Sutskvi seems to be in a state of "confusion" at the moment, becoming "invisible" at OpenAI. According to the report, Sutzkove has not been seen in OpenAI's San Francisco office since Altman's return. While there was a lot of speculation about Sutskove's future direction, Musk publicly stated on social media that Sutskove should join Tesla or his AI company, xAI.
According to IT House, Musk helped found, fund and attract key talent to the non-profit OpenAI in 2015, and persuaded Sutskwe to leave Google to join OpenAI, which he called "one of the toughest hiring battles I've ever experienced."
But due to a power struggle in 2018, Musk's relationship with OpenAI deteriorated and he left the board. Subsequently, in order to obtain funding and computing resources, OpenAI switched to a profit model and began to receive a large amount of investment from Microsoft.
Earlier this year, Musk publicly criticized OpenAI for having deviated from its original intentions: "OpenAI was founded as an open-source, non-profit organization that was intended to serve as a counterweight to Google, but now it has become a closed-source for-profit company controlled by Microsoft." That wasn't my intention at all. ”
Sutskvi also expressed remorse after Altman's reinstatement, writing on X: "I deeply regret participating in the actions of the board. ”
Musk has repeatedly highlighted Sutskove's involvement in the firing of Altman, saying: "I think we should be concerned about this because I think Ilya actually has a strong moral code." He really cares about what's right. If Ilya feels that there is a good reason to want to fire Sam, then I think the world should know what the reason is. ”
If Sutskvi does choose to join xAI or Tesla, it will be a major event in the battle for AI talent. As Musk put it, Sutskove's 2015 arrival "was actually a big factor in OpenAI's success."
It's unclear how Sutskove will choose his future direction, but it's certain that his decision will have a significant impact on OpenAI, xAI, Tesla, and the AI field as a whole.