Fear and loathing at OpenAI
David Pierce is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired. Sam Altman’s tenure at OpenAI has been… messy. Messy to the point where Altman was briefly fired from his role as CEO, only to be reinstated days later, at which point he began reshaping the organization permanently. This week, The New Yorker published a deep look at Altman, his time at OpenAI, and the questions about whether he’s the right person to be in charge of a technology as important and transformative as artificial intelligence.
Verge subscribers, don’t forget you get exclusive access to ad-free Vergecast wherever you get your podcasts. Head here. Not a subscriber. You can sign up here. On this episode of The Vergecast, David and Nilay discuss OpenAI, the profile, Altman, and everything. Eventually. First, they have some projects to talk about. Nilay has finally concluded his journey to turn an iMac into a monitor, though he ran into a few snags along the way. David managed to vibe-code the productivity app of his dreams, though not before accidentally tapping into someone else’s dreams.
The hosts compare notes on their projects, their Claude Code experience, and where this whole vibe-coding thing might be headed. After that, it’s OpenAI time. We discuss all the ways in which Altman is just an exceedingly normal businessman, and all the reasons AI either does or doesn’t demand a different kind of leader. Your answer to that question almost certainly depends on just how big a deal you think AI will be.
Finally, in the lightning round, it’s time for another round of Brendan Carr is a Dummy, and the latest attempt to unmask Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin. Do you think it’s Adam Back. Two housekeeping items: Vote for The Vergecast for Best Technology Podcast in the Webby Awards. Voting closes next Thursday, thanks so much to everyone who votes. We’re doing a meta-Vergecast in a couple of weeks, all about The Verge, The Vergecast, and whatever you want to know. Send us questions. Call the Vergecast Hotline at 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com.
If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started. David Pierce
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