Elon, Sam,
This is a hard email to write. We've been thinking about this a lot and we want to share our honest view.
The current structure provides you, Elon, with a path where you end up with unilateral absolute control over the AGI. You stated that you don't want to control the final AGI, but during this negotiation you have shown to us that absolute control is extremely important to you.
As an example, you said that you needed to be the CEO of the new company so that everyone will know that you have a way of saying 'no' to a hostile takeover. The goal of OpenAI is to make the future good and to avoid an AGI dictatorship. You are concerned that Demis could create an AGI dictatorship. So do we. So it is a bad idea to create a structure where you could become a dictator if you chose to, especially given that we can create some other structure that avoids this possibility.
We have a few smaller concerns, but we think it's useful to mention it here:
• In the event we decide to buy a company, we worry that you will use OpenAI's funds to acquire one of your own companies. We could prevent this by having a separate fund.
• Sam, you have shown us that you are extraordinary at funding, and you have given us an enormous amount of trust. We are concerned that as the company grows, your priorities will change in a way that's not aligned with the company's mission.
• You, Sam, told us multiple times that the only person you'd trust unconditionally with absolute power over the company would be yourself. This concerns us.
It is important to think about what will happen once we get closer to building AGI. It is reasonable to expect that the company's internal politics will increase substantially as the prize gets larger. It is therefore extremely important that whoever ends up running the company has a very high level of integrity.
We want OpenAI to succeed at the mission. Right now, we don't see how the proposed structure works. We are not willing to work for a company where you, Elon, would have unilateral control. We are also not willing to work for a company where you, Sam, would have unilateral control.
Ilya and Greg