“It Was Really a Pure Fight over Control”, Ezra Klein2023-11-28 (OA)⁠:

One thing in the OpenAI story I am now fully convinced of, as it’s consistent in my interviews on both sides.

This was not about safety. It was not about commercialization. It was not about speed of development or releases. It was not about Q^✱. It was really a pure fight over control.

The board felt it couldn’t control/trust Sam Altman. It felt Altman could and would outmaneuver them in a pinch. But he wasn’t outmaneuvering them on x issue. They just felt they couldn’t govern him.

…People—including me!—kept assuming there was some other principle at stake, or directional disagreement lurking, but there wasn’t. Which is, in the end, why the board had so much trouble explaining its position.

…The board did not disagree with Altman on this issue [of whether to develop AGI]. Perhaps you disagree with him on it, but the board did not…He wasn’t pushing faster than his board wanted him to.