Greg Brockman is the co-founder of OpenAI. This is the most detailed first-person account he has given of the 72 hours after Sam Altman was fired, how OpenAI started, and the future.
Greg explains how the original Napa offsite produced the three-step technical plan OpenAI has followed for more than a decade and the real reason OpenAI had to abandon its pure nonprofit structure.
He then gives the most detailed account ever of what happened in the hours after the Sam Altman firing, why he and nearly every OpenAI employee quit, and how his relationship with Ilya Sutskever changed.
After that we look to the future of ChatGPT and the race to AGI. We talk about how they are using AI at OpenAI, why ChatGPT stopped showing reasoning traces, how to decide who gets compute, and of course Anthropic/Claude.
Then we get to the question on everyone's mind: What is going to happen to your job?
Timestamps:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:49 Meeting Sam Altman and Starting OpenAI
00:02:40 Building the Founding Team
00:04:25 DeepMind's Lead Over OpenAI
00:04:54 The Change from a Pure Non-Profit
00:06:05 Breakthrough Moments at OpenAI
00:08:22 What Dota 2 Meant for OpenAI
00:10:04 Reasoning Versus Prediction
00:11:59 Tensions Grow at OpenAI
00:15:44 Sam Altman's Firing
00:17:49 Greg Quits OpenAI
00:19:56 Sam Explores Deal with Microsoft's Satya
00:20:28 OpenAI Employees Sign Petition for Altman's Return
00:23:43 Ilya Sutskever Leaves OpenAI
00:24:59 Lessons Learned in Leadership after Sam Ousting
00:28:22 The Thing Ilya Said that Greg Can't Forget
00:32:22 Is AI Going Parabolic?
00:33:24 How Much of OpenAI's Code is Written by AI?
00:36:21 Are AI Chatbots Just Telling Us What We Want to Hear?
00:38:06 The Global AI Race to Reach AGI
00:38:40 What Happens if US Doesn't Reach AGI First?
00:39:49 Are Competing Countries Stealing AI Advancements from U.S?
00:40:38 Why ChatGPT No Longer Shows Reasoning
00:41:47 The Finite Constraints of Compute
00:43:38 On Investing Early in Data Centers
00:46:31 The Future of Data Center Specialization
00:47:52 How OpenAI Will Decide Whose Queries to Serve
00:49:08 OpenAI on Consumer vs Enterprise Models
00:53:05 Data Centers in Space?
01:00:56 What Should AI Regulation Look Like?
01:04:33 The Future of AI-Powered Entrepreneurship
01:04:44 AI and Job Loss
01:07:15 The Skills Young People Should Invest In
01:11:30 What Does Success Look Like For You?
Episode page and full show notes: https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-podcast/greg-brockman/
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*Greg Brockman*
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thegdb/
Blog: https://blog.gregbrockman.com/
*Shane Parrish*
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farnamstreet/
X: https://x.com/ShaneParrish
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-parrish-050a2183/
Books: https://fs.blog/books/
Website: https://fs.blog/
Newsletter: http://fs.blog/newsletter
*The Knowledge Project* is a show featuring in-depth conversations with the top CEOs, investors, and business leaders to uncover the timeless principles that drive success. Learn more at https://fs.blog/podcast
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