The OpenAI Saga Proved Just How Incestuous Silicon Valley Is
The ouster and rapid return of Sam Altman from OpenAI took the world by surprise, but many of the characters in the Silicon Valley soap opera were oddly familiar, showing how even the most consequential companies in tech are guided by an insular crew of tech stars.
As the company rapidly cycled through CEOs and potential board members, household names—like former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear and ex-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers surfaced—began to surface, despite their spotty resumes.
The dramatic ordeal also featured the return of a niche movement, “Effective altruism.” Its community took a blow this fall, when the movement’s greatest proponent, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, was convicted.