Reading The Essential Questions We Must Ask About the OpenAI Incident

Reading The Essential Questions We Must Ask About the OpenAI Incident

Reading The Essential Questions We Must Ask About the OpenAI Incident

At a book café today, I stumbled upon a slim volume titled The Essential Questions We Must Ask About the OpenAI Incident.

At first glance, I thought it might be another trendy guide to ChatGPT prompts. But as I flipped through the pages, I quickly realized—it was something entirely different.

This book didn’t offer shortcuts or tricks. Instead, it opened a window into values, philosophy, and a brief yet sharp reflection on the history of AI.

1. What happened at OpenAI?

In November 2023, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman was suddenly fired. The board cited a vague “loss of trust” but didn’t provide further explanation.

What followed was dramatic: Within just five days, Altman was reinstated—after 700 of 770 employees threatened to quit in support of him. What seemed at first like a typical executive shake-up revealed a deep rift in how people view the future of AI.

It reminded me of a short-lived moment in Korean history: the Gapsin Coup in 1884. In this analogy, Altman isn’t the revolutionary. He’s the one restored. The board, with its sudden but fragile maneuver, played the part of the overthrown reformists.

2. What was the real conflict?

  • AI safety vs. commercialization: Is this technology for humanity, or for the market?
  • Nonprofit ideals vs. for-profit reality: OpenAI began as a nonprofit, but its alignment with Microsoft turned it into a commercial powerhouse.
  • Governance breakdown: The board stood on philosophical grounds, but lost operational trust—and ultimately, control.

3. Two Tribes

Altman once said:

“There are two tribes at OpenAI.”

And that metaphor is strikingly accurate.

It’s not just about clashing priorities. It’s about clashing worldviews.

  • One tribe believes in caution, ethics, and shared responsibility.
  • The other moves with urgency, competition, and market dominance.

The surprising part? Most of OpenAI’s employees—engineers, researchers, scientists—stood with Altman. Not the board.

I found that shocking. You would think technical people might side with caution and ethics. But in reality, they supported the one who could secure resources, speed, and influence.

Perhaps ideals are easier to uphold when you’re not facing the boiling pressure of industry competition.

4. Was it ever really nonprofit?

OpenAI set a “capped profit” model: First 10x returns for investors, later expanded to 100x. That’s already far beyond what most startups would promise.

They called their mission “friendly AI”—but that phrasing alone raised red flags for me.

A truly good person doesn’t talk about being good. They don’t even think of it that way. But someone with bad intentions? They’re the ones most likely to hide behind the label ‘good’.

Eventually, OpenAI dropped the cap and changed its structure. It crossed fully into the for-profit realm.

5. Why that choice?

The answer is simple: competition. Google, Meta, Anthropic, Musk’s xAI—they all entered the race. Commercial pressure skyrocketed. The flywheel had begun to spin.

Once it starts, you can’t stop it.

The more it spins, the harder it is to change direction. And by the time it feels hot, we might already be the frog in boiling water.

6. The questions it left me with

  • Am I already in boiling water without realizing it?
  • Which tribe do I belong to?
  • Can we truly say technology is neutral?
  • Even in writing blogs, how do I frame my relationship with AI?

7. In the end

This wasn’t just a CEO drama. It was a sign—an inflection point in how we shape the future of technology.

We may have crossed a river we can’t return from. So as I continue to cross it, I hope to be someone who chooses direction over speed.

📘 About the book

The Essential Questions We Must Ask About the OpenAI Incident
By In-Sook Lee & Soo-Jung Lim
Available on Ridibooks and Naver Series

🔖 Tags

#OpenAI #SamAltman #AIethics #TechPhilosophy #Essays #AItribes

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