The OpenAI board was right

Even on little things, Sam is not consistently candid.

May 21, 2024

A week ago, OpenAI released an exciting new demo, featuring a voice character with a sexy breathy voice that was supposed to remind you of Scarlett Johansson’s AI agent character in the fabulous film Her. Lots of people gushed over it. (Some worried about the sexism, as well they should, but that’s a story for another day. And of course I daresay the demo was just a demo, one that will never work robustly as advertised, but that too is a story for another day.)

Fast forward to today; there’s been a backlash. Too many people noticed the coincidence and not everyone was happy. Some wondered whether ScarJo had been compensated. Today, under pressure, OpenAI pulled the ScarJo-like voice, alleging that the resemblance was purely a coincidence.

I probably don’t have to tell you, but that’s complete bullshit. And stupid, obviously refuted bullshit at that.

For one thing, Sam himself had proudly posted a reference to the film “Her” within hours of the demo:

I can’t tell you what happened to Sam’s caps lock, but obviously the claim that the resemblance to ScarJo was a “coincidence” was a lie. Sam knew perfectly well what the character sounded like.

A couple hours later, ScarJo herself (via her publicist) sent a statement, even more damning, to Bobby Allyn, a journalist (that I happen to know) at NPR, telling the real story:

Coincidence, my eye.

ScarJo’s contention that this goes back to September checks out:

They said it wasn’t intentional, but of course it was. Sam may not be wanting to delete his “her” tweet, but 6 million people saw it. And pur concidence line is a sign of consciousness of guilt.

All of this is really about consent. Artists and writer and actors don’t want their work to be used without their permission; if you want to use their stuff, you should compensate them, and get their permission.

If they say “no”, no means no.

Scarlett said “no”.

That didn’t stop Sam.

As the film maker Toni Thai put it:

Sam got away with a lot for a long time, but people are starting to see through the ruse. Here’s an (admittedly unscientific) poll I ran earlier today:

Count me with the majority. Spin is a way of life at OpenAI; telling the truth is not.

Casey Newton noticed, too:

So did Canadian MP Michelle Rempel Garner:

The (old, now-replaced) Board said in November they fired Sam because he was not consistently candid. I saw that with his fudges to the Senate about OpenAI equity (he has indirect equity, which he failed to mention, and owns an OpenAI VC firm that trades on the company name that he failed to mention), the board saw it with his lies about Helen Toner, and now we all see it with his embarrassing lies about Scarlett Johansson.

It’s a pattern.

Gary Marcus has seen enough, and hopes that the new OpenAI board recognizes that Sam’s behavior is not consistent with what one would expect of a nonprofit that has pledged to help humanity.