OpenAI staff warned of ‘dangerous’ AI tool: Sam Altman was fired next day

A day after Sam Altman sacked the OpenAI board that fired him, it has been revealed that several staff researchers of the firm wrote a letter to the board of directors warning of a powerful artificial intelligence (AI) discovery that they said could threaten humanity, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The previously unreported letter and AI algorithm were key developments before the board’s ouster of Altman, the poster child of generative AI, the two sources said. The sources cited the letter as one factor among a longer list of grievances by the board leading to Altman’s firing, among which were concerns over commercialising advances before understanding the consequences.