INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ahead of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's four days in exile, several staff researchers sent the board of directors a letter warning of a powerful
artificial intelligence discovery that they said could threaten humanity, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters
The previously unreported letter and AI algorithm was a catalyst that caused the board to oust Altman, the poster child of generative AI,
the two sources said.Before his triumphant return late Tuesday, more than 700 employees had threatened to quit and join backerMicrosoft in
solidarity with their fired leader
The sources cited the letter as one factor among a longer list of grievances by the board that led to Altman's firing
Reuters was unable to review a copy of the letter
The researchers who wrote the letter did not immediately respond to requests for comment
OpenAI declined to comment.According to one of the sources, long-time executive Mira Murati mentioned the project, called Q* (pronounced
Q-Star), to employees on Wednesday and said that a letter was sent to the board prior to last weekend's events.After the story was
published, an OpenAI spokesperson said Murati told employees what the media reports were about but she did not comment on the accuracy of
The maker of ChatGPT had made progress on Q*, which some internally believe could be a breakthrough in the startup's search for
superintelligence, one of the people told Reuters
OpenAI defines AGI as AI systems that are smarter than humans.reuters
