OpenAI is now open to making Sam Altman very wealthy

Philanthropic prestige goes only so far in this world. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, an obsession with perpetuating Bloomberg Opinion’s supremacy. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Sam Altman]( loses his squad. - [Satellites work]( better abroad. - [Child-care plans]( are rather flawed. - [Businesses]( ought to applaud. Do-Gooders Gone Bad As much as I would love to spend the next 500 words trying to guess Eric Adams’ [cellphone password]( — my [money]( is on [I<3TURKEY]( — we have bigger fish to fry! Like Sam Altman’s [sudden desire]( to change OpenAI’s corporate structure and the subsequent [conga line]( of employees[1](#footnote-1) heading for the exits: I guess you could say that OpenAI is evil now? Like, in the [biblical sense]( of the word: “Money is the root of all evil,” yada, yada, yada. Altman no longer wants to be seen as a granola do-gooder, he wants to be at the helm of a hot startup! And Matt Levine [says]( “the founder and CEO of a hot startup is supposed to own equity. Not just for his sake — not just so that he can be rich — but to [align incentives]( Although the whole [you-get-to-be-filthy-rich]( part can’t hurt. Be honest: If you had to [choose]( between accepting $10 billion — the [equity stake]( Altman expects to receive in a for-profit structure shift — or writing “I clock in for humanity!” in your LinkedIn bio, what would you do? Philanthropic prestige goes only so far in this world, and Altman has been burned before. In case you forgot, this is the same guy who got fired by his own board because he was “moving too aggressively” to commercialize AI. While that probably was — [and still is]( — true, the move [backfired]( when OpenAI’s valuation [nosedived]( overnight from $86 billion to, uh, zero, without Altman in the saddle. It’s rather unsurprising that less than a year later, he’s [embarking]( on a strategic restructuring that Parmy Olson [says]( will “neuter” the nonprofit board. Plus, there’s a clear business impetus for turning to the dark side: “OpenAI is expected to confirm that it has received the biggest venture capital investment ever: a $6.5 billion (or more!) injection valuing the company at around $150 billion,” Dave Lee [writes]( (free read). “Those investors aren’t doing it for the good of humanity; they’re doing it for the good of their funds and partners.” But before their payday arrives, OpenAI will need to actually turn a profit. “If you think OpenAI can possibly operate ‘free from financial obligations,’ you’re hallucinating. That dream is over,” he writes. Now Altman and his remaining ilk get to act like all the other shameless, Loro Piana-wearing businesspeople in Silicon Valley. I wonder if he’s relieved he no longer [has to say]( he’s in it for the love of the game. Bonus AI Reading: It takes chutzpah — or a very short memory — for a presidential candidate to praise [crypto “innovation”]( while also talking up AI. — Lionel Laurent Salt Typhoon If you were to ask me what a “salt typhoon” was before today, I’d have told you it’s what happens on my stove[2](#footnote-2) every time I make pasta. But now I know it as Chinese government [hacking campaign]( thanks to the Wall Street Journal: Hackers linked to the Chinese government have broken into a handful of US internet service providers in recent months in pursuit of sensitive information, according to people familiar with the matter. The hacking campaign, called Salt Typhoon by investigators, hasn’t previously been publicly disclosed and is the latest in a series of incursions that US investigators have linked to China in recent years. The fact that Chinese spies are burrowing into US American broadband networks like prairie dogs is rather discomforting, and only adds to the sense that China is “testing” the US and its allies. In a [hot-mic moment]( last weekend, US President Joe Biden said those very words off camera in reference to Beijing’s maritime military exercises. While Karishma Vaswani [says]( we’ll never know “whether the president, who is infamous for his [gaffes]( did this deliberately,” the quad alliance of the US, Japan, India and Australia “needs to be bolder in calling out Beijing’s infractions.” Beijing responded to Biden’s remark, [saying]( the “US needs to get rid of its obsession with perpetuating its supremacy and containing China” in the South China Sea. It’s the same logic that Catherine Thorbecke [says]( state-backed news outlets have used with disputes over ByteDance. When the US Senate passed the TikTok ban, she notes, the China Daily ran an editorial warning: “The century of humiliation won’t be repeated over TikTok” — an indication “that Beijing views the US attacks on the popular app as in line with an historical pattern of Western exploitation.” The price of technological squabbles between the US and China is high. Consider how GPS, one of America’s most successful high-tech inventions, has become increasingly vulnerable: “China and Russia have honed their ability [to disable]( US satellites using missiles, lasers, cyberattacks and even other satellites,” Bloomberg’s editorial board [writes](. At the same time, China has been bolstering its own satellite network, BeiDou, making America’s “[substantially inferior]( Read [the whole thing](. Telltale Charts Kamala Harris doesn’t think families should pay more than 7% of their income in child care, which sounds like a goal worth cheering for, but Kathryn Anne Edwards [warns]( that “latching too tightly on to this number risks a Trojan horse of administrative burdens and implementation difficulties.” Using a blanket percentage of income, 7% or otherwise, is problematic: “Say the federal government decided tomorrow it would fund all child care less 7% of family income from each participant,” she writes. “How should families pay their 7%? One option would be to have the providers collect it. ... It would incentivize those providers to take on children from richer families, where the 7% is higher.” In 2022, Sabrina Carpenter wrote a song called “[Bad for Business]( in which she questions whether her new love interest will detract from her music: “If I’m just writing happy songs, will anybody sing along?” Two years later, and the answer is clearly yes. People love singing along to her [sickly sweet]( [lyrics]( [about]( Barry Keoghan. The idea that an artist needs to be heartbroken and starving in order to succeed is merely a silly trope. Speaking of which, Robert Burgess [says]( it is time “to retire the old trope that Democrats are anti-business.” He notes that the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s annual update shows that the [US economy grew $294.2 billion more]( in the five years to 2023 than previously reported. “So much for Trump’s claim of overseeing [the greatest economy ever]( Bob writes. Further Reading Lebanon’s [pager attack]( marks a new era of intimate warfare. — Andreas Kluth Trump offers [scare tactics]( on housing. Harris actually has a plan. — Erika D. Smith Southwest CEO Bob Jordan [deserves a chance]( to execute his plan. — Thomas Black The owner of the Carolina Panthers is [bad at his job](. The NFL’s not helping. — Adam Minter Of course US billionaires [still love]( the Premier League. — Matthew Brooker Rupert Murdoch’s bid is still on [the wrong side]( of Rightmove. — Chris Hughes Biden shouldn’t worry about giving [Ukraine missiles]( Russia’s in sabotage mode. — Hal Brands Brits are annoyed that their [tax payments]( aren’t a good value. — Merryn Somerset Webb ICYMI Trump launched a [line of watches](. Vanderbilt University [is expanding]( to New York City. Mississippi police ran an illegal [“debtor’s prison.”]( Kickers The [pole dancer]( at the Bridgerton Ball. Everything is [a kids menu]( now. Wide-leg jeans inspire [shopping sprees](. Nicholas Sparks makes a [diabolical chicken salad](. Notes: Please send [16 packets of Splenda]( and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads]( [TikTok]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. [1] Sam Altman says the executive departures are just a [random coincidence though]( which Matt Levine thinks is "weird." "If you were committed to OpenAI’s nonprofit vision, you might be annoyed by the pivot to profit. Or, more plausibly, if you are a senior executive at a hot $150 billion startup, it would be reasonable for you to exercise your options, cash in your stock, call in rich and spend some time at the beach," he writes. [2] I use [Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt]( to cook. It's labeled as a "foodservice product not for retail sale" but I buy it on Amazon, so thanks Jeff Bezos! Sadly, the box is rather poorly made so the salt often leaks from the bottom all over my stovetop. I am too lazy to find a solution, hence the typhoon. Follow Us Stay updated by saving our new email address Our email address is changing, which means you’ll be receiving this newsletter from noreply@news.bloomberg.com. Here’s how to update your contacts to ensure you continue receiving it: - Gmail: Open an email from Bloomberg, click the three dots in the top right corner, select “Mark as important.” - Outlook: Right-click on Bloomberg’s email address and select “Add to Outlook Contacts.” - Apple Mail: Open the email, click on Bloomberg’s email address, and select “Add to Contacts” or “Add to VIPs.” - Yahoo Mail: Open an email from Bloomberg, hover over the email address, click “Add to Contacts.” Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](