Sam Altman is back on the conference circuit and touting AI's benefits to humanity, days after regaining the lead at the world's best-known artificial intelligence startup.
23.11.2023 - 07:07 / tech.hindustantimes.com / Sam Altman / Rare
OpenAI reinstated Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman after hundreds of workers threatened to quit over the ChatGPT creator's ouster, highlighting just how much leverage the tech industry's most valued workers hold right now.
Artificial intelligence engineers earn anywhere from 8% to 12.5% more than their non-AI counterparts, according to an analysis by compensation data platform Levels.fyi published in May.
The most common salary range for an engineering job listed on OpenAI's website is $200,000 to $370,000, though a handful of more specialized roles advertise ranges from $300,000 to $450,000, said Roger Lee, co-founder of compensation benchmarking firm Comprehensive.io. Salary ranges don't include bonuses or stock awards, which can bring an annual salary of $300,000 closer to $800,000 in total compensation, according to Levels.fyi.
In an industry where talent is the scarcest resource, the kind of exodus threated at OpenAI would have been catastrophic. “For emerging technologies like AI, you only have a very small, small group of people who are experienced. They are the product, they are the company,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at job site ZipRecruiter.
That put OpenAI employees in an unusually powerful position to exert direct pressure on the company's board.
“The supply constraint is a very real, binding one, especially in the short- to medium-term,” she said. “You can't easily train these people, you can't easily recruit them from elsewhere. Retaining the ones you've got is the most important strategy.”
As for recruiting from universities, there's a big difference between understanding AI models on a theoretical level and having the skills and experience to actually apply them. OpenAI's highly specialized software systems also makes its current developers even more valuable.
“It takes a long time to learn an actual company's code and tech stack. An AI engineer inside the company is worth three AI engineers from outside the company, given that dynamic,” Pollak said.
OpenAI staff already had job offers waiting. Before Altman was reinstated, Microsoft Corp. said they would be welcome to join its new AI research lab. Microsoft has a roughly 49% stake in OpenAI.
Sam Altman is back on the conference circuit and touting AI's benefits to humanity, days after regaining the lead at the world's best-known artificial intelligence startup.
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Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the buzzword of 2023, with the world's biggest companies launching their suite of AI services not just for consumers, but for businesses as well. While AI technology has been growing for some time, it is safe to say that this revolution really kicked off when OpenAI launched its AI chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022. Since then, rapid advancements have taken place in the field, with companies like Microsoft and Google releasing their AI services. AI for business has also become highly sought after, with companies leveraging the new tech to grow their business and offer more services to consumers. However, OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap thinks this technology is overhyped. He also revealed some details about the shock resignation and the eventual return of CEO Sam Altman.
When news stories emerged last week that OpenAI had been working on a new AI model called Q* (pronounced “q star”), some suggested this was a major step toward powerful, humanlike artificial intelligence that could one day go rogue. What's more certain: The hype around Q* has boosted excitement about the company's engineering prowess, just as it's steadying itself from a failed board coup. Peaks of AI excitement about milestones have taken the public for a ride plenty times before. The real warning we should take from Q* is the direction in which these systems are progressing. As they get better at reasoning, it will become more tempting to give such tools greater responsibilities. More than any concerns about AI annihilation, that alone should give us pause.
OpenAI is delaying the launch of an online store for people to interact with an array of chatbots customized by its users, citing the interruption caused by the ousting and reinstatement of Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman.
Larry Summers, a new board member at artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, said that the startup's work was “extraordinarily important” and that the company needed to operate as a “corporation with a conscience.” OpenAI “has to be prepared to cooperate with key government officials on regulatory issues, on national security issues, on development of technology issues,” Summers said on Bloomberg Television's Wall Street Week with David Westin on Friday.
OpenAI has been through a lot of dramatic changes over these past few weeks with the board members firing the company CEO Sam Altman. While the feud did not last long and Altman eventually made his way back as OpenAI CEO, the company has made significant changes in their board with three new members and Microsoft is also getting a seat on the board, however, as a silent member. Check Microsoft's role in the OpenAI board and how it will function to ensure the company's success.
OpenAI announced that ChatGPT, the popular generative artificial intelligence-based chatbot, was getting new capabilities earlier in September. These features have now been rolled out globally, and one of the most interesting features will be available to all users, whether they subscribe to its premium version or use the free version. The feature grants ChatGPT voice capability, letting it both receive queries verbally and answer them in the same way. These features will be available in the mobile app version of the platform.
After almost five days, he's back: Sam Altman returns to OpenAI as its chief executive officer, the very same position he had held just 110 or so hours prior, in what will come to be known in Silicon Valley as “the time before OpenAI imploded.” But this saga has only reached the end of the beginning. We go into the Thanksgiving break wondering what happens next, and what it will mean for the future — not just for OpenAI, but AI more broadly.
OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman is to return as CEO of the company, mere days after his chaotic firing by a board that seems to have lost all support. A deal has been reached «in principle» for his return that will see new board members appointed, and the agreement comes shortly after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had essentially checkmated OpenAI by offering Altman a job and guaranteeing the role and salary of any OpenAI staff that wished to join him.
It's time to “get back to shipping” products, a senior OpenAI manager told staffers Tuesday, part of an effort to get the company focused on developing software and forging partnerships instead of the will-he-won't-he drama over whether Sam Altman, summarily fired by the board Friday, will return to the chief executive officer role.
Sam Altman and members of the OpenAI board have opened negotiations aimed at a possible return of the ousted co-founder and chief executive officer to the artificial intelligence company, according to people with knowledge of the matter.