Was Sam Altman's Sacking By OpenAI's Board Over 'Q-Star' Breakthrough Seen As Threat To Humanity?

My prediction is that a few weeks ago the team at OpenAI demoed either a machine that showed consciousness or AGI and Sam didn’t immediately tell the board and their feelings were hurt. pic.twitter.com/IUDcHiIwIU

— Dan Siroker (@dsiroker) November 18, 2023

The mystery surrounding the brief dismissal of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last Friday, who has since been reinstated, might revolve around a Reuters report that suggests Altman's removal was due to a breakthrough in artificial general intelligence (AGI), which could threaten humanity. 

In the days before Altman was sent off into exile, several staff researchers penned a letter to the board about a significant breakthrough - called Q* and pronounced Q-Star - that allowed the AI model to "surpass humans in most economically valuable tasks." 

Reuters sources said the AI milestone was one of the significant factors that led to the board's abrupt firing of Altman last Friday. Another concern was commercializing the advanced AI model without understanding the socio-economic consequences.