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Highlights
- Yann LeCun mocks OpenAI's equity terms, labeling them "42 sextillionnollars" in value.
- OpenAI revises equity policies after backlash, removes nondisparagement clauses.
- Despite changes, skepticism remains about OpenAI's equity fairness.
Yann LeCun, Chief AI Scientist at Meta, recently took to social media to mock the equity policies of competitor OpenAI.
The comment reveals existing debates in the tech industry regarding company policies toward employees’ stakes and non-disclosure agreements.
Meta’s Chief AI Scientist Comments on OpenAI’s Controversy
Yann LeCun, in his sarcastic tweet, hinted at employment at ClosedAI, which, as is clear from the name that is a clear play on OpenAI, is just too good to be true and might make you a billionaire but is in fact, unattainable. He exaggerating the company’s value to “42 sextillionnollars” and “42 octillionnollars” to make the audience realize how unrealistic it all is.
This critique of LeCun also mentioned some of the highly prescriptive and particularly onerous measures included restrictions of rights of employees, vesting clawback provisions for shares, non-disclosure, and non-disparagement provisions that apply if the employee departs or speaks out.
<sarcasm>
Come work at ClosedAI.
With AGI just around the corner, your shares will be worth 42 sextillionnollars.
We can claw back your vested shares if you quit, unless you sign a non-disparagement agreement.
Oh wait, sorry, we didn't realize our contract was this harsh until… https://t.co/uWalRNykVg— Yann LeCun (@ylecun) May 25, 2024
This commentary comes under the backdrop of revelations that OpenAI has suffered criticism over its employment agreements. More specifically, it has been stated that these contracts contained provisions that may have limited the freedom of employees to dispose of the equity unless they refrained from speaking ill of the company. This has led to controversy regarding the legal and moral permissibility of such practices being employed.
Response to Contract Controversies
Following investigative journalism and subsequent public scrutiny, OpenAI made moves to address these concerns. These policies forced OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman and other managers to answer difficult questions about these policies during a meeting with the employees.
They also assured that the sections that were problematic in the contracts have been eliminated and most of the ex-employees cannot be restricted by nondisparagement clauses anymore. This change was made as part of a series of alterations thaMeta AI Chief Taunts OpenAI t Altman acknowledged was a genuinely embarrassing policy change.
In response to the criticism, OpenAI published a statement explaining that it always allowed former employees to sell their shares at the market price regardless of their status or affiliation and planned to do the same in the future.
However, many, including former employee Jacob Hilton, remain skeptical about the company’s commitment to transparency and fairness in handling the employee equity.
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