alt Hacker NewsPosting it here as a top-level comment as many people asked why boycott just openAi:
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openAI is the least trustworthy of the Big LLM providers. See S(c)am Altman's track record, especially his early comments in senate hearings where:
* he warned of engagement-optimisation strategies, like social media, being used for chatbots / LLMs.
* also, he warned that "ads would be the last resort" for LLM companies.
Both of his own warnings he casually ignored as ChatGPT / openAI has now fully converted to Facebook's tactics of "move fast and break things" - even if it is society itself. A complete turn away from the original AI for science lab it was founded as, which explains why every real (founding) ML scientist has left the company years ago.
While still being for-profit outfits, at least DeepMind and Anthrophic are headed by actual scientists - not marketing guys. At least for me, that brings me some confidence in their intentions as, as scientists we often seek knowledge, not power for power's sake.
Replies
Actually Google Gemini provides almost no control on the data you share. Same for Antigravity. No "opt-out" button, even as a lie. Even when you are a paying user. Only Google Workplace users have some control.
There is a setting in Gemini but it removes all your chat history. For Antigravity, I think there is nothing preventing them from use your code and data your agents upload in the background unless you are a workspace user.
Note: Canceled my ChatGPT subscription and deleted an account.
I think this misses the main reason. I mean ads have been a thing for a while now. What's new is:
* Brockman donates $25m to a pro Trump super PAC
* Altman is in talks with talks with the Pentagon since Wednesday
* Now it's announced Anthropic is dropped by the military, designated a supply chain risk, and OpenAI takes over its military contract, after Anthropic objected to surveilling US citizens and allowing autonomous kill bots.
The thing stinks rather.
The reason this is on the front page now is because of Altmans recent deal with the department of war, not because of these general grievances.
maybe they will have a human in the loop when vibe bombing the world, if the person agrees not to use an ad blocker
> ads would be the last resort
I generally agree with your take but the juvenile name-calling really weakens the point.
> also, he warned that "ads would be the last resort" for LLM companies.
What is wrong with ads? I personally dislike them and prefer to just pay for services, but it seems that majority of people prefer "free"-ad-supported model.
I know we should boycott openAI, i was just wondering if I should also boycott altman's other venture, Worldcoin which is down 97.27%? He said I'll get UBI soon
Your point stands just fine without the silly, uniquely-US-politics-style “SCAM Altman ha ha!” BS. I can feel myself getting dumber every time I am subject to one of these.
Don't forget the UBI/open-source BS he sold like a snakes-oil salesman and people even bought it.
Why boycott? Just use their free services and never pay for it. Cost them money instead of pay them money is a step further than boycott.
This is why I haven't used OpenAI since early 2023-ish, and when I did I signed up with a masked email (though notably I'm sure they can tie my chats to me via my credit card :) ). afaict Sam Altman is essentially a sociopath, like lots of the "ruling elite" these days. And while I still use Gemini and Claude extensively and recognize some of the irony there, I view not using OpenAI as harm reduction to myself.
I distrust OpenAI as much as the next guy, but “Scam Altman” has “70-year-old uncle Facebook rant” energy.
Why not go a step further and be boycotting all of them, especially those that have government contracts.
Is Scam Altman the modern equivalent of Micro$oft?
I mean marketing is how business uses psychology to control the masses.. why would we think ai wouldn’t be used by businesses, governments, independent psychopaths?
Just boycott them all if you can. That's what I've done.
Some people's livelihoods probably depends on Claude and they can't say use Glm4.7 on HF. Fine. But it's a moral compromise, that's life sometimes you need to compromise what you want for what you need. just don't tell yourself it's a reasonable line to hold.
I can't decouple from Google unfortunately but I accept that without fooling myself into thinking "Oh but Google are fine".