Jeff John Roberts

Last November, a red-hot startup founded by a guy named Sam imploded in a massive scandal. Fast forward to this November, and the very same thing happened—though this time, the Sam at the center of it is named Altman, not Bankman-Fried.<div class="paywall-selector"></div><div class="paywall">



The parallel is just a funny coincidence (though not so funny for investors in Altman&#8217;s OpenAI, who stand to lose billions after its founder was deposed in a shocking <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/11/19/sam-altman-returns-to-openai-hq-reinstatement-as-ceo-could-be-soon/">coup</a> on Friday afternoon). And, of course, Altman still holds a godlike status in the tech world while Bankman-Fried awaits a decades-long prison sentence for defrauding clients of his FTX crypto exchange.



Even though the two Sams are wildly different, there&#8217;s a notable overlap between the companies they founded: a link to effective altruism, the controversial philanthropic movement that espouses saving humanity through a radical form of utilitarianism. In the case of FTX, Bankman-Fried and his cronies professed devotion to &#8220;EA,&#8221; but all their high-minded words turned out to be flimflam to justify robbing people. In the case of OpenAI, the situation is more complicated.



For better or worse, the EA crowd has been one of the loudest advocates for putting guardrails on artificial intelligence. Their influence extends to OpenAI, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/technology/sam-altman-open-ai.html">where</a> &#8220;at least two of the board members, Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner, have ties&#8221; to the movement. Meanwhile, it&#8217;s not clear if OpenAI cofounder <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/11/18/who-is-ilya-sutskever-openai-leadership-shakeup-ai-safety/">Ilya Sutskever</a> (who reportedly led the coup to depose Altman) is officially in the effective altruism camp—though he certainly seems to have a penchant for cult-like behavior. 



&#8220;Anticipating the arrival of this all-powerful technology, Sutskever began to behave like a spiritual leader,&#8221; reports <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/11/sam-altman-open-ai-chatgpt-chaos/676050/?gift=bQgJMMVzeo8RHHcE1_KM0WVuODpKll0A708pOI0Ple4&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=share">The Atlantic</a>. &#8220;His constant, enthusiastic refrain was &#8216;feel the AGI,&#8217; a reference to the idea that the company was on the cusp of its ultimate goal. At OpenAI’s 2022 holiday party, held at the California Academy of Sciences, Sutskever led employees in a chant: &#8216;Feel the AGI! Feel the AGI!&#8217;” 



The publication adds that Sutskever &#8220;commissioned a wooden effigy from a local artist that was intended to represent an &#8216;unaligned&#8217; AI—that is, one that does not meet a human’s objectives. He set it on fire to symbolize OpenAI’s commitment to its founding principles.&#8221; Let&#8217;s just note, for comparison, that in all my time at Fortune I&#8217;ve never seen our CEO, Alan Murray, lead a chant or set an effigy on fire.



It&#8217;s hard to know for sure how much effective altruism did or did not contribute to OpenAI&#8217;s meltdown, but some are already pointing fingers. This includes tech writer James Ball whose <a href="https://www.techtris.co.uk/p/openai-set-out-to-show-a-different">critique</a> of the company&#8217;s unworkable management structure begins with a heading &#8220;It all starts with effective altruism,&#8221; as well as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong who <a href="https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1725924114190536825">railed</a>, &#8220;If this is really some EA, decel, AI safety coup at OpenAI, the board just torched $80B of value, destroyed a shining star of American capitalism, and will be sued to high heaven by investors.&#8221;



The full story of what went down at OpenAi is complicated, and new developments are unfolding by the hour as <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/11/19/openai-rehire-sam-altman-greg-brockman-interim-ceo-mira-murati/">the company appoints a new CEO</a> and Microsoft <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/11/19/in-the-battle-to-bring-altman-back-to-openai-microsoft-holds-the-trump-cards/">maneuvers</a> behind the scenes, but it seems a safe bet this latest debacle will make effective altruism even less popular than it is already.



Jeff John Roberts <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="mailto:jeff.roberts@fortune.com" target="_blank">jeff.roberts@fortune.com</a> <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/jeffjohnroberts" target="_blank">@jeffjohnroberts</a><h3>DECENTRALIZED NEWS</h3>The price of Worldcoin—the token associated with Sam Altman's iris-scanning project—dropped on reports of his ouster from OpenAI. (<a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/263611/worldcoin-price-drops-6-after-sam-altman-unseated-as-openai-ceo">The Block</a>)
A global standards-setting body for securities regulators refused to adopt a bespoke regime for stablecoins, but proposed greater oversight of influencers. (<a href="https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/11/17/global-standards-setter-for-securities-regulation-publishes-crypto-markets-policy-recommendations/">CoinDesk</a>)
Mastercard's CipherTrace unit announced a new integration with AI-based fraud detection service Feedzai as part of a broader push to monitor crypto exchanges. (<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/20/mastercard-partners-with-feedzai-to-detect-and-tackle-crypto-fraud.html">CNBC</a>) 
Fidelity is the latest TradFi giant to file an application for an Ethereum ETF. (<a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/11/17/fidelity-wants-to-create-an-ether-etf-joining-blackrock-in-doubling-down-on-crypto/">CoinDesk</a>)
Claims held by FTX's largest creditors are trading as high as 65 cents on the dollar as the company's position continues to improve in bankruptcy. (<a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/263592/ftx-creditor-claims-increase-to-as-high-as-65-cents-on-the-dollar">The Block</a>)
<h3>MEME O’ THE MOMENT</h3><a href="https://twitter.com/sama/status/1726345564059832609">Sam Altman on his guest pass</a>:
<a href="https://content.fortune.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screenshot-2023-11-19-at-10.52.09-PM.png"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3725464" src="https://content.fortune.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screenshot-2023-11-19-at-10.52.09-PM.png?w=206" alt="" width="206" height="300" /></a></div>

Effective altruism—made famous by Sam Bankman-Fried—is back in the news for all the wrong reasons.

OpenAI and its links to Effective Altruism

This is the web version of Fortune Crypto, a daily newsletter on the coins, companies, and people shaping the world of crypto. <a href="https://www.fortune.com/newsletters/fortune-crypto?&itm_source=fortune&itm_medium=nl_article_tout&itm_campaign=fortune_crypto">Sign up</a> for free.

P-Newsletter

Fortune Crypto

Newsletters

OpenAI's crackup is another black eye for effective altruism

OpenAI’s crackup is another black eye for effective altruism

OpenAI and its links to Effective Altruism | Fortune Crypto

Some Fortune Crypto pricing data is provided by Binance.

Coinbase and Robinhood poised for huge 2025 if crypto tailwinds continue

/crypto/2024/12/31/coinbase-robinhood-2025-outlook/

Bloomberg

Banks want in on Tether’s billions in stablecoin profits

/crypto/2024/12/28/banks-tether-usdt-billions-stablecoin-profits-blockchain-crypto/

Man on mountain tries to pull bitcoin token uphill with rope.

Bitcoin rally runs out of steam, currency fights to reclaim $100,000

/crypto/2024/12/27/bitcoin-price-recover-all-time-high/

Catherine McGrath

Image of a Shiba Inu dog in the logo of Dogecoin

Dogecoin tumbles over 25% as memecoins battered by crypto pullback

/crypto/2024/12/23/dogecoin-tumbles-over-25-as-memecoins-battered-by-crypto-pullback/

Crypto giant Tether invests $775 million in Trump-friendly video service Rumble

/crypto/2024/12/20/tether-invests-rumble-crypto-freedom-tech-vision/

A cartoon image of Donald Trump holding a Bitcoin token to mark Bitcoin reaching over $100,000.

Crypto markets crash after epic rally, sending Bitcoin back below $100,000

/crypto/2024/12/20/bitcoin-crypto-prices-crash-federal-reserve-donald-trump/

Fortune Editors

Fortune Crypto provides smart and timely news about Bitcoin, Ethereum and how startups and big companies are using blockchain to transform finance and investing.

Daily News, Analysis &amp; Price Data on Bitcoin, Ethereum &amp; More

Uncategorized

homepage

Companies

NFTs & Culture

Regulators

Latest News, Analysis, Insights &amp; Price Data on Cryptocurrencies

The Coins

Paolo Confino

Airline passengers who found bedbugs infesting their seats were allegedly rebuffed by flight crew

https://fortune.com/2025/01/02/airline-passengers-who-found-bedbugs-infesting-their-seats-were-allegedly-rebuffed-by-flight-crew/?itm_source=parsely-api

https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/12/31/coinbase-robinhood-2025-outlook/?itm_source=parsely-api

Trump's crypto project plans to launch its own U.S.-dollar-backed stablecoin: Report

https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/10/28/trumps-crypto-project-plans-to-launch-its-own-u-s-dollar-backed-stablecoin-report/?itm_source=parsely-api

Eleanor Pringle

$749 million 'treasure hunt': Crypto miner fights to retrieve Bitcoin fortune he claims was accidentally thrown in landfill

https://fortune.com/2024/11/21/james-howells-bitcoin-hard-drive-lost-millions-newport-city-council/?itm_source=parsely-api

Nissan and Honda merger could be a move to head off crippling Trump tariffs

https://fortune.com/2024/12/18/nissan-honda-merger-trump-tariffs/?itm_source=parsely-api

A Dogecoin celebrity is back in the spotlight—and happy to be a millionaire again

https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/11/25/a-dogecoin-celebrity-is-back-in-the-spotlight-and-happy-to-be-a-millionaire-again/?itm_source=parsely-api