There was a moment, after he staved off a boardroom-coup attempt just before Thanksgiving 2023, when Sam Altman played like a hero, repelling the dark forces of anti-progress. Behold the Great Conqueror, ushering in an era of prosperity when petty doomsday-minded advisors would stand in his way!
There was also a moment, after he stepped in to take the Defense Department’s Anthropic deal in early March, when Sam Altman played like a villain, embracing the dark forces of surveillance. Behold the Archangel, swiping souls and privacy data in the name of government contracts!
Whatever the full truth of either description (anyone paying attention that November a few years ago soon realized only Wall Street cheered his comeback) I’d argue Altman at this point in his pop-culture evolution has transcended both those designations and any spectral stops in-between. The OpenAI leader has now landed on something else, something that may or may not be problematic but can’t
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