Why was Sam Altman fired from OpenAI? 3 Theories
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- Опубликовано: 10 июн 2024
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Welcome everyone to this week’s science news. Today we’ll talk about the leading theories for why Sam Altman got fired from OpenAI, cosmic rays with HUGE energies, evidence of a an overdue supervolcano eruption near Italy, an exoplanet on which it rains sand, Microsoft’s first AI-chip, why spiral galaxies like the Milky Way are so rare, how climate engineering could save the Antarctic, cannibalistic stars, and of course the telephone will ring.
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00:00 Intro
00:36 Three theories for Altman's firing
05:50 Cosmic rays with HUGE energies
09:00 Evidence for regular supervolcano eruptions near Italy
10:01 It's raining sand on this exoplanet
11:14 Microsoft presents first self-made AI chip
12:25 Why are spiral galaxies like the Milky Way so rare?
13:39 Climate engineering study to save Antarctica
16:18 Cannibalistic stars
17:18 Curiosity Stream Special Offer
18:50 Channel update
#science #sciencenews #openai 
Наука
The quiz for this video is here: quizwithit.com/start_thequiz/1701038228538x363807935017727500
We have a rudimentary version of creator accounts now and hope to roll out the feature around Christmas or NewYear. Then you can all create your own quizzes.
Yes
You know you use Occam's Razor a lot, right?
It would have been great had you commented on the new board members on openai, in particular Larry Summers.
So the arasols reflect heat from back in to space and Heat earth back on to earth so it's just like carbon dioxide. Maintaining temperature not increasing temperature
"Q-Learning:* This isn't a standard term in RL, but it could refer to an idealized or optimal version of Q-learning. In an optimal scenario, Q-learning would perfectly estimate the Q-values for all state-action pairs, allowing the agent to make the best decisions at all times.
Deep Q-Networks (DQN): When Q-learning is combined with deep neural networks, you get Deep Q-Networks. Here, a neural network is used to approximate the Q-function. The network inputs the state of the environment and outputs Q-values for each possible action."
Please see i.e. Wikipedia => Q-learning => Variants => Deep Q-learning ... it's right there.
I, for one have had no issues with the scope of topics covered under one title. It’s a bit like delving into Rumfield’s “unknown unknowns” 😊
I agree, many of the stories presented under one envelope are things that I didn’t think I was really interested in, but became interested in after Sabin discussed them
Yes, it's very Vsauce-esque
My view is: If it's of interest to her, it's of interest to me...
@@FLScrabblerthat's right 😊
Hear hear ✊️✊️✊️
I truly enjoyed the weekly format, and I tried to catch every episode. Thank you Sabine ❤ I wish the best success with the new format, and I can’t wait to see what’s next!
You look handsome
I'm gonna miss the weekly science news format, but am looking forward to the new stuff.
I’m excited for the new format
I like the weekly format. It's got a whole bunch of interesting stuff that i didn't know i was interested in!
Damn, you almost gave me a heart attack when you said this would be the last episode. 😮
These are the dangers of a parasocial relationship 😊
@@Thomas-gk42 It's not the parasocial relationship. I've come to rely on this as a quicker/better (and bonus - more fun) way to consume news than traditional methods.
Same!
@@Kevin_Underhillalso the quality is much higher than most other sources, it makes an enormous difference that Sabine is active in the field
@@richarddavis2605entirely correct🙂
So glad youre not ending the science news!! lol I was scared -- gonna miss the weekly science news format - I always get excited the day it comes out, and make myself a snack and sit down to watch it! Best of luck with the new format and I hope the gods of the algorithm continue to boost your channel! Love the content
Thanks a bunch for the news, Sabine! 😊
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
And happy holidays!
I hope the daily videos arent too much work to do conpaired to the weekly summary. I really enjoy the summaries and they fill my science knowledge craving very well. Thanks Sabine!
I totally agreed & enjoyed the weekly News, Thank you for you and your team Sabine ❤ The news are very helpful for me (as a non-STEM background) to get in touch with Science reports and developments!
Thank you Sabine - love your show - will look forward to the daily news... best of luck with the new format!
I love this format! But thank you for the idea to do playlists!
Weird that weekly science news isn't so popular. It's been one of my GoTos for a while now. Hope this doesn't mean less stories covered as with this video alone there are 8 stories and 8>7! :P
It's not about popularity, but how it's hard to be included on a general (non-fan) suggestion bar, if I understand correctly.
It's right up there with Scott Manley's Deep Space Updates.
Sabine, don't scare us with an announcement like that! I was lost and heartbroken for a few seconds, until you said Science News will be daily and compiled into a weekly playlist😅 Looking forward to the new format, thanks😊
Lost and heartbroken? Chill you’ll be fine, it’s not the end of the world even if she ends the channel or something like that.
@@elck3don’t be dismissive. people use hyperbole all the time in normal communication.
@@elck3not the end of the world? Loosing a parasocial relationship can be even worse. All the best for Dr. Sabine
I'll take my science news from Sabine any way I can get it. I'm always delighted to tune into your newest post. Have a great week.
I'm so glad you're making this change, although it will doubtless be extra work.
I always find myself skipping through some of your news videos even though I love all of your diverse single-subject videos.
I'm very hopeful that this will bring a wider audience for your thoughtful analysis.
Sabine's daily news? Bring them!!!
So happy to see you cover Sam Altman drama - one of the biggest news stories and it's hardly covered in the mainstream. Thank you and awesome quality as always.
I'm not so happy that Sabine covered it. It is not science, at best it's journalism, at worst it's gossip.
It brings Sabine down to the level of other Physicists who think they can lend their "expertise" to any topic or question.
Best wishes, Sabine, for the Daily Science News. I suspect that total viewing hours will drop; hopefully I am wrong!
@@bonglee66 Sabine is using her public position as a Physicist to give this channel credibility.
Anyone can have an opinion on any topic.
The question is why would anyone listen to you, or to me? Why would anyone give what we say any weight?
If you are discussing an issue with Fabrics, and present your professional Fabrics Technician view, then that's all to the good.
If however, you say that you are a professional Fabrics Technician and hold forth on an unrelated topic, then you are dragging your profession into disrepute.
In my view this is what Sabine has just done.
The weekly science news was my Tuesday oasis and I loved the format. But we still have you, Sabine, and that's all that matters. Looking forward to the new format and I hope the telephone will still ring : )
Love when you do this format; keep up the great work!
I'm looking forward to seeing how the daily news works out starting next week. If anything it'll be a fun new thing to add to my daily routine. :)
You know, despite how RUclips works, some of us greatly value serialized topics in a single video. RUclips underserves us.
That is a clever way around the issue with the algorithm. I’m excited to get some news throughout the week!
I really enjoy your videos, no matter the format, I am excited!
I loved the weekly news! Not super sure about the change to daily, but I'll give it a shot!
What about some of the smaller news stories that last just a minute or two?
Some of the best things about the weekly format was becoming interested in something I was initially pretty sure wouldn't be interesting or useful to me.
Also -the most important question- will the telephone be featured?
So right, I hope, the new format will work.
Hey Sabine, thank you, for a year science news, I loved it, so sad, that it doesn´t work anymore. All the best.
You realize we will be getting daily science news?
@@WillyKillya Yes, thanks. I'm afraid anyway, it's a misjudgment to replace it by shorts and will not work that good. Hope, I'm wrong and the new format is successful.
@@Thomas-gk42 I respectfully disagree. They won't be actual RUclips shorts, just shorter daily videos like maybe 2 to 3 minutes. In fact maybe it'll go into detail a little more, or below each video will be relevant recommendations to the news
Good luck, Sabine. Love your skepticism, keepin’ it real!
hope the switch to daily schedule suit you. I really like your actual format, and i'll still follow you daily now ;)
Very unique and interesting way of covering the Altman thing.. i like it!
And totally agree with you 😊
@SabineHossenfelder, I truly enjoy the Weekly Science News digest you do. I really don't want individual shorts all the time, like SciShow does. Theirs are great and all, but you are you, and your way of presenting, your dry sense of humour, your clear allyship for us not-straight folks, those all bring me here, where I get to hear about a lot of things from a person I like and trust. You're like one of those favourite teachers we used to love, because they would go off on tangents and actually teach us about life sometimes. I suggest a compromise: Do the Weekly show, but then break it into indivitual shorts later. That only adds that one step in editing, and gives us the choice in how to enjoy your content. Thanks for doing what you do.
I'm sad the weekly news will be gone. It won't be the same loading each item separately. However, thank you for doing them. I enjoy your dryness and sharp insight. Thank you.
Super Format. Ich mag deine In Details Videos auch und wenn ich mich entscheiden müsste, bitte mach lieber die weiter, aber diese News Videos sind auch richtig gut.
Thank you for the science news.
Outlier theory: somebody asked an AI what the best future of the company might be, AI said getting rid of this guy would be just fine.
You know it's happening already...AI's making hiring/firing decisions...it absolves any humans from direct responsibility.
"Sorry, AI says you are a threat to the bottom line, you gotta go. Not my decision to make...no appeals."
I wish you well with dividing up the content, however that might go. I just would like to say thank you so much for presenting such a wide variety of topics in a knowledgeable and straightforward manner, for quite a while now. It has been something to look forward to. And, reassuringly, so far, I have not come across anything that seems to be incorrectly described. All in al a terrific job and thank you again, Sabine.
Sad to see these go, I liked the format a lot. I appreciate though that the Great Algo is the master of all things on this platform though, hopefully you'll find better luck with the more broken down videos.
With atmosphere geo-engineering, they never address the impact of light attenuation on photo-signaling in organisms, like how, many plants know when to flower etc. also; any thoughts on LFBOT.
Interesting point indeed. I'll try to look into that. Lots of weird things out there in the cosmos, hard to keep track!
I'll miss the Weekly News broadcast. Shame on those confused individuals (and algorithms). But I do look forward to your broadcasts - will probably need to subscribe to a dozen different ones.
This is an awesome compromise for the weekly news as I can still watch it all in the playlist or get a quick daily hit! On the flip side you can get better results hopefully from the youtube beast.
Dear Sobina, I will still watch every video of yours. Even if you sort them by playlists. Thank you very much for your work!
I think the Altman firing was probably some combination of all three things and other factors, some perhaps personal, that you didn't mention or we don't know about yet. But I do think the first factor was the most important, Sam was apparently annoyed about that article because it could potentially cause problems related to an FTC investigation, and he was trying to get rid of the author from the board. Helen Toner and one of the other board members consider themselves to be part of a group called effective altruists that are hyper-concerned about the danger of AI destroying everyone. She told the company employees in a call after the firing that destroying the company and closing it down was consistent with her view of her board responsibilities. Right after firing Sam, the board, apparently under her influence, then tried to sell all its assets to Anthropic, the other company she sites as being safer than Open AI in her article.
Good analysis can be found on Patrick Boyles' channel.
I have less information but a similar hypothesis that fits the data and your analysis.
1. Altman starts work on the Q and STaRS merge which can lead to self learning.
2. His Nemesis on the board freaks out. Internal fights begin. Because of NDAs she does the report as a way of going public without violating agreements. Board battle gets uglier as Altman is rightfully pissed off. Board might have tried a go slow to gain consensus.
3) Altman ignores it but not report of great progress and starts looking for funding of a chip to encapsulate the new discoveries.
4) Board finds out and battle goes nuclear. Altman is fired.
5) Team working on project is angry at attempt to stop their life's work and rebels.
6) Attempts to dismantle company are seen to destroy shareholder value or interests of major partners.
7) Several board members see the result impacts their interests directly and side with the faster please faction.
8) With billions at stake and the whole enterprise about to fall apart, they get on their knees and beg Altman to return.
@daleamon2547 youve been watching too many lifetime movies... The simple solution like Sabine concluded is the only reasonable explanation until more facts are unveiled.
First prove that the speed of search and the ranking and consolidation of the data gleaned from high speed searches are intelligent and artificial.
Sam does no more than Google does. The only difference is Google does not put the data in 🎁 box with a red bow around it while saying here is everything thing naturally intelligent people have produced on your lead world search.
Sam is a hukster. He sells vacuum cleaners by telling you a round vacuum with bumpers is a robot.
He should rename the whole out fit SpeedSearch and be done with it.
I love anyone who makes a dime selling simple techo solution to any of the complex insolutable problems of the natural world but by the gods and all things holy and unholy do not claim that a quickie is the nth step beyond the real thing.
Have we not had enough of the ruse of sending the same carbon out of a coal plant's emissions stack that we would have if we had driven a car rather than a Musk-Mobil?
@OOL-uv2qu That is an ignorant statement considering AI is ALREADY having a negative effect. Directly on human jobs being destroyed. This is more than a theory, it is already here. Sensible people who give a shit about human beings are trying to put the slightest of brakes on it. If you disagree, you have been duped.
I love the ChatGPT calling in this episode. I wonder when it will call Sabine for real.
As a large language model, I am unable to call Sabine...
It'll be fun to get daily science news drops! Always keep me in that scientific mindset
Dear Sabine, I have enjoyed your weekly news format, and appreciate the wide, but relevant spectrum of subjects you have discussed. - If viewers are to select individual subjects they are inevitably going to miss out on a lot of educational segments, that may not cater for sexy headline.
Helen Toner , who wrote that paper Sam objected to, was outsted from the board on his return. I suspect that Helen was the main thrust behind Sam's firing, with Ilya playing her lieutenant. After being fired, Sam tweeted "I Love You All" (the first letter of each word is "ILYA")
Q-star has nothing to do with Q-anon. Q tables something used with reward functions, where each step to a final result can be rewarded, rather than just the final result, avoiding the situation where the ai is rewarded for the right answer based on the wrong reasoning. The problem is Q tables are problem specific. One popular theory is that q-star is a generalized approach to q-tables. ("*" in many computer environments means "match everything")
Sabine knows Q-star isn't related to Q-anon. She was (humorously) saying that the concerns about Qstar sounded far-fetched/conspiratorial (i.e. like q-anon).
Just a little joke that went over your head.
@@rakino4418 maybe so. It was a poor choice to have a single wry joke, given her only other bit of commentary on the q* theory being there was nothing there to convince her.
There's been a lot of fascinating discussion as to what q* might be among machine learning folks, and it would have been good to hear why she dismissed their speculation, rather than just hear her conclusion.
Daily Sabine? I'm on board 👍
Sabine love the content and topics
Going to miss this format, but probably you will do great with the new one and unfortunatelyone has to adapt to the algorithmif really wants diffusion. Happy to know you will still put a weekly playlist together for us.
WOW! We get to watch Sabine on a daily basis going forward. Now that's good news people! 👍👍
Hope so, but not sure, how it works🤥
I'm really going to miss the weekly science news videos! They are extremely fun and very informative. Thankfully they're not going away completely! I understand the reasons for making the choice but ...if you ever decide to bring it back it would be quite welcome! 😄
"I understand the reasons for making the choice"... Perhaps you can explain it to me then?! As I wasn't sure I quite understood. She mentioned something very vague and allusive about the youtube algorithm. But...
A channel can't spend its existence constantly existing just for the youtube algorithm alone. Instead, Dr. Sabine has audience loyalty and that counts MASSIVELY and is the key aspect for keeping a channel thriving for years and years.
So does Dr. Sabine serve the algorithm, or her audience? Who is most important to her?
Perhaps it is the audience, and the audience really doesn't like her news channel shows?
But in that case... that seems odd, because there's several other WEEKLY science news, and space news, and rocket-science news recaps on other channels (like Fraser Cain, Scott Manley, NSF, etc...) and those have been going very strong for years. Also John Michael Goddier now has a top 10 weekly science news recap.
So her decision seems very mysterious to me? I wish she would explain it a bit better to the audience. Anyways...
But ya, you mentioned understanding the reasons, so maybe you have some additional insight?
Another great episode. You're the only creator I'll sit through the Ads!! Thankx Sabine..
Love this format but as long as the phone keeps ringing I’ll keep watching! 😎
Wow, daily Sabinews it's the best news! Thank you, Dr.!
And my theory about Sammy firing is that he has gotten too comfy with Microsoft and the board had to remember him that Openai is a nonprofit enterprise( and I don't think Microsoft falls under that definition), and what a board can do to the CEO, apart form firing him?
Actually Q* sounds too much like Sagittarius A* and would be the central blackhole that all AI is sucked into.
I was thinking it might be a reference to the all powerful alien called "Q" in Star Trek The Next Generation.
It's actually 'just' a combination of the names of two known algorithms.
Great solution Sabine. Looking forward to Daily Science News.
Sabine daily, can't wait!
Nothing better than being rehired and then having some of those that fired you, themselves fired.😂
Open ai board was a different kind of board, more focused on humanity (safety) than money, humanity lost.
So I vote for option 2 where they combined LLM with deep mind type backtracing and learning, plus several other advances.
It's very dangerous for the mission of the company to rotate around a vaguely defined "good of humanity" which, under the right circumstances, justifies anything anyone can come up with.
@@coonhound_pharoah"Don't be evil" used to be Google's motto...
30 degrees South? That's right over me
@@coonhound_pharoah Imagine being brainless moron who has no problems with being badly burned by something because THINK OF POOR BILLIONAIRE PROFITS!
Sabine analysis and clarification of science news every day? Tank you dear lady!!!
I also got confused about which videos are science news in general cause of the titels, but i really like the format, it just needs other names, like: science news, week 46 :D
Sabine should replace Michio Kaku as the "go to" science expert for most media outlets. Michio has sold out to the Aliens Are Here special interest group. And he has Hollywood hair flowing like a little gurl. The paradox of Sabine's modern yet traditional German wit is what we need. 2024 is going to be another long, strange trip. Amen.
That was the funniest phone call ever. Thanks for the video, Sabine. Great stuff as always.
Love you, keep the good job. 😍👍🏻
Hi Sabine. However it is presented your time is always appreciated, thank you 👍
Yeah I'm sorry, it was me. I have bought the last spiral galaxy Aldi had on sale yesterday.
The problem with the fundraising theory is that the interim CEO asked the board for a concrete reason for the firing and they basically said "We got nothing."
Because everything is oh so secret. Only the Chinese know. Wahaha...
I am surprised is the board don't have a clue on why they fired Sam Altman. It could be different reasons for different board members...
that ending with the rollercoaster of emotions, well played.
I'll agree about Curiosity Stream. I've had a subscription for about 3 years and the amount of quality content in there is amazing! The variety is also amazing too.
Sabine, the idea behind the board being upset about Q* is the same as that of the first theory. Sam knew about an advancement that he neglected to tell the board, and then they got mad about it.
All the channels going from long videos to shorts is pretty annoying. It is a bit like deep conversations replaced by small talk. Who wants that!?
The Idiocracy Must be Distracted.
Boo hoo
Excellent question. My feeling tells me that short videos are better of grabbing attention and that this is ultimately youtube's goal
There is room for both.
I'm still not understanding why they would think AI can be malevolent.
We perceive our reality through our animal mind, the animal is what drives our selfishness to cause harm to others .
It does not have an animal mind, running it's heart, maintaining temperature, running your intestine, hunger, cold, heat, sex response.
AI will not have any of that, to be selfish about, especially the female.
Greed, possession, it won't have any of that.
I also have had no issues with the array of topics in the weekly show but if the change will get you better reach them so be it. I'll still be watching 🙂
Thank you, Sabine!
No more weekly news because people get confused, BOO!
Yeah, I wonder have they never seen a newspaper or a magazine??
Stratospheric Aerosol Injection is exactly how the world in Snowpiercer is ruined 😮
Will the podcast version still be combined into one weekly upload? It’s much harder to handle many small episodes in podcast format especially while driving
Comment to help on the algorithm. 🙂 Danke schön, Sabine!
this was a strategically coordinated effort to gut the board members of any safety rails and caution in regard to AI development.
I'm hearing mixed reports.
From what I heard, Altman was the one who was being the businessman.
The human dad of an AI baby not being completely transparent is concerning. Wonder if he'll have this child learn our methods of success from our history books - now that's terrifying!
I, for one love getting news in fields i would normaly have no contact with, this is what brought me to these videos as it is rare enough on this platform. I hope that the change will pan out as you think it will. gl
I love the Sabine News Roundup
I support the perspective of a well-versed, high-functioning critical-thinking scientist instead of simply relying on an AI-passionate amateur RUclipsr. Thanks Dr. Hossenfelder!
What's sacking Altman got to do with science?
😂
I rather like the switch to a daily format. Thanks!
11:42 the 5nm manufacturing process does NOT result in a transistor that small. They are much bigger. I don't have the numbers but I would guess something between 30 and 50nm.
Any mention of RCP8.5 (ludicrously inaccurate!!!) reminds me of the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect, and makes me start to doubt Sabine's comments about those things that she really understands. Best to steer clear of "consensus" climate change pontifications as they are starting to get more and more laughable.
In my opinion OpenAI is another hype inflated technology.
😂
You clearly do not know what you are talking about.
It's not.
We're just gonna have to have a weekly playlist xD
This daily approach is fine with me. I'll watch it one way or the other. 🙂
While I think it was NOT the real reason, at least mentioning Sam Altman's sister accusing him of raping her when she was 4 might be relevant here.
what do you remember at 4?
@@tomservo5007 I remember a lot from 4 years old. I started kindergarten when I was 4 and when I went to school we learned how to read and do math in kindergarten plus got grades, not smiley face stickers. The girl who sat next to me failed and had to repeat the grade the next year. Being that kindergarten was more rigorous you had to take an entrance exam before they would let you start and I knew the alphabet, how to count to 100 by ones, twos, fives and tens, knew my full name, parents' full name, my home address and telephone number plus both sets of my grandparent's names and telephone numbers.
My earliest memories are from when I was 3 and they were traumatic ones. It is entirely possible that Altman's sister remembers something as traumatic as being sexually assaulted at that age. Just because you aren't smart enough to have any memories from when you were 4 years old doesn't mean that others don't.
@@robo5013 total BS
@@tomservo5007 Nope, I went to school in the 70's and 80's when America was the #1 education system in the world. When did you go to school?
I don't like Sabine's ongoing trajectory from down-to-earth hard science informer to "quintessential RUclipsr", complete with clickbait, gossip, annoying memes and pandering to the lowest common denominator. I understand it's what brings in the money to keep the channel and related projects growing, but I don't like it. I liked when Sabine just laid out the facts without having a funny acted "persona" that makes political jokes. Just my 50 cents.
You could always try Wikipedia for cut and dry. Have you ever thought there's not as much science news as there is demand, and if you want to see more of sabine the content has to be more entertaining if she's to make a living on RUclips. You should understand by now scientific progress is an ongoing process. Be patient, and keep supporting sabine, instead of being a hater.
She's always had the same dry humor.
Let me guess, you don’t like her politics, therefore “SHE SUCKS NOW Waaaaaaa WAAAAAA!!!!”
Her support of critical race theory is insane....
i think u trippin, chill
I watch all the weekly so I'm sure I'll watch all the daily (but perhaps only once a week binges)!
Hi Sabine, I like your analyses! 🥰Have you tried the new additional function of the ChatGpt phone app with oral voice input and output? I would be very interested to hear what you think of it. I've rarely had such an in-depth conversation with someone as with this AI and received such intelligent answers. 🙄 Starting with discussing Quantum Physics and ending with how to bake farmers bread. 😁
because AI's ability is over-hyped at best, a way to milk investors at worst
Nice video, thanks. Love your multi-color shirt/top. You should get a bunch of them in assorted colors.
Sab needs to change her shirt.
Daily Sabine videos? Yes please!
Ugh YT forcing the change. I really like the weekly news round-up because it exposes me to neat stuff I don't normally watch. But - I watch every video you make anyway, so I guess that'll happen in the future too. Thanks!
I like to listen to this show in the shower. It's one of the few things where the sound is loud enough for me to hear, and it keeps me up to date. Putting them in a playlist is super convenient! Best, and I hope the algorithm gods bring wealth and fortune your way!
Sabine, as long as you don't turn it into shorts, you can publish your content whichever way you like, and I will watch it all.
It’s sad that the algorithm is pushing you (and all other RUclipsrs) to end the weekly news. I really enjoy the format. Of course I’ll keep watching the new format, but miss the good old days at the same time.
Here's why I think Sam got fired and then rehired: Helen read internal company documentation about Q*, she thinks it is unsafe (in the sense of accelerating the upcoming war between the AIs, whether that is real or not), and Sam was more interested in making money soon than preventing the upcoming war between the AIs despite his previous claims otherwise. So Helen got Sam fired. Helen doesn't want to publicly describe her beliefs about the consequences of releasing Q* because that might also help to immanetize the eschaton. Then Microsoft and other investors stepped in and rearranged things so Sam is in and Helen is out, since they want to make money and have a fiduciary requirement to have short term planning horizons.
So, basically, Sabine's second option, except with some blanks filled in.
I have no inside information on the issue, but I have had enough conversations with people interested in AI safety to have some understanding of how they think.
With regard to the upcoming big badda boom in Italy, when I visited Pompeii and pondered what population centers would be destroyed if that volcano detonates again, Naples was right there. I assume Naples is still there. I'm sure it would have been in the news if it had been covered in lava.