<![CDATA[OpenAI used to be a not-for-profit corporation.]]>OpenAI used to be a not-for-profit corporation. An organization doing research, deeply informed by the "Effective Altruism" philosophy which has always predicted "the coming of AI superintelligence"

And then they made a breakthrough a real one, and it was easy to think maybe it was the second coming. And if that were true? The money to be made was so vast, so world changing that it was time to cash in.

There was a big internal fight about it. Remember that?

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]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/581f05b6-9f1c-40f1-92fc-4df1a4b5e53e/openai-used-to-be-a-not-for-profit-corporation.RSS for NodeFri, 14 Aug 2026 19:09:13 GMTFri, 14 Aug 2026 14:18:12 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to OpenAI used to be a not-for-profit corporation. on Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:49:53 GMT]]>@jgrg

"I can't believe they're the pathway to AGI."

This was kind of obvious from the start but that this point we have gone beyond due diligence in giving the possibility of this being even remotely true a chance.

But, people will get very mad at you for saying so since they haven't cashed out yet. *shhhh* just please bro, let me have this etc. etc.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sauropods.win/users/futurebird/statuses/117094415928567347https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sauropods.win/users/futurebird/statuses/117094415928567347Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:49:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to OpenAI used to be a not-for-profit corporation. on Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:47:29 GMT]]>@gdupont good point @futurebird

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://troet.cafe/users/energisch_/statuses/117094406500980857https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://troet.cafe/users/energisch_/statuses/117094406500980857Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:47:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to OpenAI used to be a not-for-profit corporation. on Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:47:13 GMT]]>@energisch_

Probably but it might be a more "right sized" level of hype.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sauropods.win/users/futurebird/statuses/117094405469719296https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sauropods.win/users/futurebird/statuses/117094405469719296Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:47:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to OpenAI used to be a not-for-profit corporation. on Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:47:09 GMT]]>@futurebird I'm bored with LLM-based "AI". Useful tools for some tasks have been made with LLMs. They produce a powerful illusion of understanding, but don't *know* anything. They're not suitable for building critical systems, and I can't believe they're the pathway to AGI.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.science/users/jgrg/statuses/117094405240878897https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.science/users/jgrg/statuses/117094405240878897Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:47:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to OpenAI used to be a not-for-profit corporation. on Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:46:53 GMT]]>@energisch_ @futurebird they could have made the models fully open source...

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://framapiaf.org/users/gdupont/statuses/117094404163291712https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://framapiaf.org/users/gdupont/statuses/117094404163291712Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:46:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to OpenAI used to be a not-for-profit corporation. on Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:46:23 GMT]]>"World changing sums of wealth" should never be in the hands of small groups of people, especially those able to work in secret.

The future belongs to everyone. Just saying the "the future is for everyone" is a tautology. It means nothing.

Everyone should shape the future rather than be told by someone else, where to go, what to do and when to die.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sauropods.win/users/futurebird/statuses/117094402170083910https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sauropods.win/users/futurebird/statuses/117094402170083910Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:46:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to OpenAI used to be a not-for-profit corporation. on Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:30:47 GMT]]>@futurebird

For some reason, I read "they also realized they could still get their hands on that world changing money if they can just keep enough people believing that it's true", and immediately thought, "Oh, like Amway, back in the day".

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodonapp.uk/users/bytebro/statuses/117094340852788506https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodonapp.uk/users/bytebro/statuses/117094340852788506Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:30:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to OpenAI used to be a not-for-profit corporation. on Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:28:27 GMT]]>This is why Elon Musk says the government will “issue people cheques” like it's some incidental detail. That's "Effective Altruism" for you.

Somewhere along the way most of the players have realized that this is not a science fiction movie and there is no "singularity" ... but they also realized they could still get their hands on that world changing money if they can just keep enough people believing that it's true. Long enough to cash out.

Then they will fix everything. Don't worry. 4/4

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sauropods.win/users/futurebird/statuses/117094331652262809https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sauropods.win/users/futurebird/statuses/117094331652262809Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:28:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to OpenAI used to be a not-for-profit corporation. on Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:27:18 GMT]]>@futurebird Effective altruism has never been about the altruism, or effective.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/darkling/statuses/117094327180019807https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/darkling/statuses/117094327180019807Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:27:18 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to OpenAI used to be a not-for-profit corporation. on Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:26:56 GMT]]>@futurebird it would have been copied illegally and used to make enormous sums of money. The hype would have happened anyway.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://troet.cafe/users/energisch_/statuses/117094325725487693https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://troet.cafe/users/energisch_/statuses/117094325725487693Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:26:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to OpenAI used to be a not-for-profit corporation. on Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:23:58 GMT]]>What would have happened if they'd remained a non-profit? If they had informed the world about the actual nature of the technology?

But, there were too many excited conversations with phrases like "world changing sums of money" and "singularity" -- the commitment to the "public good" went out the window since the effective Altruist knows that obtaining world changing money is the most beneficial thing for humanity as only they know how to use the power of the money best.

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]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sauropods.win/users/futurebird/statuses/117094314047979637https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sauropods.win/users/futurebird/statuses/117094314047979637Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:23:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to OpenAI used to be a not-for-profit corporation. on Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:21:00 GMT]]>Then there were copy cats, other large players trying to get in on the same hype train. SpaceX has been the most effective at this. In a way they have won the part of the game that's about profiting from the hype.

All of this rests on difficult to answer questions about the size and significance of the "breakthrough"-- many powerful people have bought in fully.

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]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sauropods.win/users/futurebird/statuses/117094302401839776https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sauropods.win/users/futurebird/statuses/117094302401839776Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:21:00 GMT