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Just when you thought there could not possibly be any more climactic twists left in this ongoing saga, former OpenAI employees have come forward to level serious allegations against the just-deposed CEO, Sam Altman. What's even more surreal, the letter from these employees has landed in the hands of Elon Musk who has now called for a thorough investigation.

For the benefit of those who might not be aware of all of the intricate details in this live soap opera, OpenAI's board of directors sent shockwaves throughout the global tech sector on Friday when it dismissed Sam Altman for not being "consistently candid" with the board. On Monday, as Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, announced that Altman would lead the tech giant's in-house AI unit, OpenAI's employees rose up against their board en masse, threatening to submit resignations unless the board restored Sam Altman and then resigned.

This brings us to the crux of the matter. A letter that is allegedly from OpenAI's former employees is currently doing the rounds on social media. You can access its archived version here. These employees assert that they were sidelined by Sam Altman for standing up to him and his increasingly mercantilist proclivity. The letter alleges:

"We believe that a significant number of OpenAI employees were pushed out of the company to facilitate its transition to a for-profit model. This is evidenced by the fact that OpenAI's employee attrition rate between January 2018 and July 2020 was in the order of 50%."

In what constitutes the crux of these allegations, the letter goes on to elaborate:

"Many of us, initially hopeful about OpenAI's mission, chose to give Sam and Greg the benefit of the doubt. However, as their actions became increasingly concerning, those who dared to voice their concerns were silenced or pushed out. This systematic silencing of dissent created an environment of fear and intimidation, effectively stifling any meaningful discussion about the ethical implications of OpenAI's work."

As far as specifics are concerned, these former OpenAI employees assert that Sam Altman had delayed the reporting on several secret initiatives that ultimately failed to deliver results as per his accelerated timelines and were then axed. Those who opposed this policy were summarily dismissed as "bad culture fits." Altman also allegedly authorized the snooping of key OpenAI employees, including its Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever.

The employees have also taken an exception to OpenAI's co-founder Greg Brockman's "use of discriminatory language against a gender-transitioning team member." The letter notes that the employee in question was later terminated for underperformance.

According to these anonymous individuals, OpenAI's governance structure is flawed:

"The governance structure of OpenAI, specifically designed by Sam and Greg, deliberately isolates employees from overseeing the for-profit operations, precisely due to their inherent conflicts of interest. This opaque structure enables Sam and Greg to operate with impunity, shielded from accountability."

Finally, the letter concludes by calling on OpenAI's board to remain "steadfast" against Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. Bear in mind that some of OpenAI's most prominent investors are trying to convince Altman to abandon Microsoft and return to lead the startup. Others are contemplating a lawsuit against the board for the arbitrary manner in which Altman was dismissed. Microsoft's Satya Nadella has also expressed qualified consent to Sam Altman returning to his previous role at OpenAI.

This letter about OpenAI was just sent to me.

These seem like concerns worth investigating.https://t.co/hnAepyfLE6

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 21, 2023

In an ironic twist, Elon Musk, whose X social media platform is currently embroiled in a controversy over anti-Semitic posts allegedly appearing adjacent to certain corporate ads, has called for an investigation into the charges leveled by the former OpenAI employees. With Musk's xAI directly competing with OpenAI, the world's richest person just might have a tad bit of partiality here.