What the OpenAI Saga Means For You

Like many, I’m astonished by what transpired at OpenAI. The leading headline in the NY Times for an ENTIRE WEEKEND was the firing and palace intrigue over the 38-year-old CEO of a sub-700-employee company.

A company whose flagship product, ChatGPT, is less than a year old.

And yet, the root cause of the conflict and its likely outcome are revealed in just four words from Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft.

Why a “new pace for innovation”? Because the current pace isn’t fast enough for Microsoft.

What transpired at OpenAI was the culmination of two competing forces in the AI world: whether speed or caution should be the driving development principle.

Speed won.

Faced with two competing worldviews, Nadella has committed his $140B Microsoft warchest to the individual he believes can accelerate AI the most.

Of course Microsoft will continue to publicly support OpenAI and integrate GPT-4 into its products. But OpenAI will never get access to the money and talent it could have obtained under Sam’s leadership. Those resources will go to his new venture at Microsoft.

What does this mean for you? The recent events are a metaphor for the debate set to dominate your work in the coming decade. The attention AI receives. Power struggles. Competing worldviews. Decisions on where and how to deploy AI.

Speed is going to keep winning.

It doesn’t matter whether you or I think this is the right path. The world doesn’t care. Like Nadella, you have an opportunity to seize the initiative and align with the winners.

So do it. Start or accelerate your company’s AI initiatives. Today.

Kevin

p.s. If you need a spark, start by creating your AI strategy in an hour.