E3: Sam Altman, the Microsoft Bull Case, OpenAI and AI Live Players

"The Riff" with Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg

In our third episode of The Riff, Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg discuss the evolving story of Sam Altman’s ousting at OpenAI and new home at Microsoft, what OpenAI's next pivot could look like, the new competitive landscape for the big AI players, and Effective Altruism’s role in this drama.

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We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.

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RECOMMENDED PODCAST: LIVE PLAYERS

Join host Samo Burja and Erik Torenberg as they analyze the mindsets of today’s most intriguing business leaders, investors, and innovators through the lens of their bold actions and contrarian worldviews. You’ll come away with a deeper understanding of the development of technology, business, political power, culture and more. Listen and subscribe everywhere you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/liveplayers.

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The Riff is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: turpentine.co

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LINKS:

Byrne's writing: https://thediff.co

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X / TWITTER:

@eriktorenberg

@byrnehobart

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Episode Preview

(00:30) Non obvious thoughts about governance and legal structures

(03:30) Could the board have found out something about Sam?

(04:40) Tech’s online coordination and choosing sides

(06:00) Why haven’t the OpenAI board shared their reasoning?

(12:00) Are they going to bring Sam back?

(15:00) What should OpenAI’s pivot be?

(17:15) Sponsor: Secureframe

(18:20) Analyzing Microsoft's moves and the sweetheart deal

(21:40) Satya's succession plans

(24:45) OpenAI's unique governance structure

(27:50) Why Byrne is long Microsoft

(35:40) What explains Microsoft's turnaround?

(37:55) Meta and Google

(44:00) Which of these companies Byrne would short: Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft

(46:00) Was this a coup from the Effective Altruism movement?