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  2. /Discussion
  3. /Why Sam Altman was booted from OpenAI, according to new testimony
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  3. /Why Sam Altman was booted from OpenAI, according to new testimony
Last activity 16 days agoPosted Nov 7, 2025 at 9:01 PM EST

Why Sam Altman Was Booted From Openai, According to New Testimony

paladin314159
52 points
12 comments

Mood

calm

Sentiment

mixed

Category

other

Key topics

Openai
Sam Altman
AI Ethics
Debate intensity40/100

The article discusses new testimony revealing why Sam Altman was fired from OpenAI, sparking discussion among commenters about the severity of his actions and the implications of his departure.

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion

Discussion Activity

Moderate engagement

First comment

2h

Peak period

10

Day 1

Avg / period

6

Comment distribution12 data points
Loading chart...

Based on 12 loaded comments

Key moments

  1. 01Story posted

    Nov 7, 2025 at 9:01 PM EST

    19 days ago

    Step 01
  2. 02First comment

    Nov 7, 2025 at 10:57 PM EST

    2h after posting

    Step 02
  3. 03Peak activity

    10 comments in Day 1

    Hottest window of the conversation

    Step 03
  4. 04Latest activity

    Nov 11, 2025 at 8:38 AM EST

    16 days ago

    Step 04

Generating AI Summary...

Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns

Discussion (12 comments)
Showing 12 comments
timmg
19 days ago
2 replies
Hopefully Aaron Sorkin will write a screenplay about this sometime in the next decade.
keeganpoppen
19 days ago
im guessing it’s no more than two years away
neumann
19 days ago
Yes please. Or Jesse armstrong and Adam McKay
kittikitti
19 days ago
5 replies
I don't think Sam Altman should have been fired even after reading this. It's definitely bad behavior but I was expecting something more significant. The consequences don't match the crime.
rifty
19 days ago
1 reply
“All four of us who fired him came to the conclusion that we just couldn’t believe things that Sam was telling us, and that’s just a completely unworkable place to be in as a board — especially a board that is supposed to be providing independent oversight over the company, not just helping the CEO to raise more money.”

I think I have to disagree here because they talk about loss of trust. Loss of trust is enough when deciding who you want to work associate with. Firing seems steep, but when working with someone feels forever untenable, your options are really you or them exiting. There's not really an in-between option to balance the response for how much the issue crossed the line of trust when you don't see it coming back.

Maybe they shouldn't have lost total trust at Sam's behaviour. But personally I'd lean towards it being a pretty normal response from people existing in the environment itself; whom are at the time feeling the active shift effect Sam was having on the power balance to their detriment.

Atreiden
18 days ago
> especially a board that is supposed to be providing independent oversight over the company

This is an important point. OpenAI is a nonprofit who's stated mission is to ensure that AI benefits all of humanity. Overseeing the business entity that exists under it's umbrella, and ensuring that the actions it takes are in accordance with that mission, is THE critical component of the boards job. This structure is very weird for a non-profit, and the stakes here are existential.

If you cannot trust the CEO of the company to not deceive and manipulate you, you absolutely cannot have confidence that the companies actions will conform to their mission.

Altman is a sociopath and they should have never caved to his political machinations

jalapenos
19 days ago
1 reply
The dude is clearly a slippery snake.

What's not clear is what special sauce he brings, beyond being a slippery snake, that someone else couldn't bring.

Zigurd
16 days ago
He finagled a few billion dollars out of Microsoft. I'd bet that Microsoft had a word with the coup plotters, and that's why Sam Altman got his job back.
9rx
19 days ago
Like others have said, Altman didn't provide trust. That's the very thing a CEO is expected to do. That is their job. A CEO not being able to offer trust is like a programmer not being able to build programs. You'd fire said programmer, no?
zhengiszen
19 days ago
It is called trust, that's what was lacking in their relationship.
Zigurd
16 days ago
Both sides were nerds playing office politics, as badly as nerds generally do.
Kim_Bruning
19 days ago
https://archive.is/62FFD
View full discussion on Hacker News
ID: 45853407Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 12:35:35 PM

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