Once upon a time (yes, this is one of those articles)...

Europe was embroiled in wars instigated by a strange man named Napoleon.

His military genius had brought much of the continent under French control.

BUT

By 1814, his monumental reign seemed at an end.

Defeated, Napoleon was exiled to Elba, a tiny island in the Mediterranean Sea.

The powers of Europe, believing they had quelled the storm, restored the Bourbon monarchy in France with King Louis XVIII.

Let’s just say… ol’ Louis XVIII wasn’t nearly as impressive.

He was known for his gourmet tastes and lavish meals -- a stark contrast to the hardships and hunger faced by most French citizens.

Also…

His love for fine food and his sedentary lifestyle contributed to his obesity. Because of his weight, he had severe gout, which made it hard for him to walk.

Once, when someone commented on his difficulty walking, he reportedly quipped, "A king does not need to run!"

It was moderately funny at the time.

But it was really funny in March 1815, when the king did in fact have to run.

Escape From Elba

After less than a year in exile, Napoleon, his heart yearning for his former glory, escaped Elba.

With just a handful of followers, he landed on the French mainland.

News spread faster than a cliche on the Internet, and what happened next was astonishing.

The soldiers sent to capture him instead rallied to his cause, their cries of "Vive l'Empereur!" echoing through the air.

Napoleon's march to Paris must have been a sight to see.

As he moved, more and more soldiers and citizens joined him.

On March 20, Napoleon entered Paris, beginning the period known as the Hundred Days.

The people, many weary of the restored monarchy, welcomed him back.

(And King Louis XVIII? Indeed, he ran.)

Europe, which had thought itself finally at peace, was plunged back into uncertainty.

They were not willing to let Napoleon regain his former power.

They didn’t trust him. And they did everything in their power to destroy him.

And after a long time dealing with him, they had a MUCH better idea of his weaknesses.

The nail met the coffin at Waterloo, marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. 

Sam Altman: 21st Century Napoleon?

I was reminded of this story this week for two reasons:

First, the new Napoleon movie is out and I don’t usually write in caps (OK, that’s a lie), but…

I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE IT.

Second, there’s the recent events within OpenAI.

As you may know, the CEO Sam Altman was ousted and then brought back into the fold -- almost in a blink of the eye.

Yes, the brief interlude of Sam Altman’s power in OpenAI -- filled with negotiations, rumored transitions, and strategic moves -- was a relative pittance compared to Napoleon’s epic return…

And I realize that the comparison between a nerdy tech entrepreneur and a continent conqueror might not feel so inspiring…

Even so, there are parallels.

With AI as one of the most powerful technologies in human history, the OpenAI saga could turn out to be just as epic.

If Altman’s lucky, he won’t fall to the same fate as Napoleon.

Once you’re ousted -- as Napoleon’s story reveals -- it’s hard to regain your former power.

Your enemies better understand your vulnerabilities.

Today, to give you the nitty-gritty of the OpenAI story, we invite our colleague and tech maven Ray Blanco.

Check it out below.

Read on.

All’s Well That Ends Well???

Ray Blanco

Like most thrilling episodes of a television drama, the Sam Altman/OpenAI saga pretty much ended up right where it began.

As of Tuesday evening, Sam Altman was reinstated by the board to his position of chief executive officer of OpenAI.

This was after being ousted (seemingly out of nowhere), negotiating his return, reportedly accepting a job at Microsoft, then resuming negotiations with OpenAI.

It was a very busy few days for all parties involved.

So it’s business as usual now at OpenAI, right?

Not so fast.

Changing your chief executive three times over five days is a bell that can’t be completely unrung, no matter how nice everyone agrees to play going forward.

The company still hasn’t provided any specifics behind their reasoning to remove Altman in the first place. Their official reasoning was that he was removed due to a “deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that [Altman] was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.”

That is a statement that creates more questions than it answers.

Altman may be happy with the resolution, but while so few details are available to the public, the common assumption will likely be that OpenAI - a company possibly more tightly associated with artificial intelligence than anyone else - is somewhat dysfunctional.

This is sure to concern any current or potential partners.

Such as Microsoft, who seemingly expected, at least for a few hours, that they would have a new head of their AI team with Sam Altman.

ChatGPT shocked the world when it was originally presented as a one-of-a-kind AI chatbot, but since then the field of competitors has become somewhat formidable.

With Bing, Bard, and Claude all matching or surpassing ChatGPT in many key ways.

With how big and lucrative a field artificial intelligence has become, it’s hard to imagine a company overcoming this kind of infighting to edge out the competition they are sure to face.

Possibly more concerning is that artificial intelligence is still establishing its reputation with the general public.

Many are slow to trust new technology, especially tech that has been at the heart of dystopian science fiction for decades, so any sort of turmoil among the big names seemingly in charge of this technology could possibly hurt overall trust and slow adoption.

Hopefully the folks at OpenAI have gotten it out of their system and can be on their best behavior going forward.

Time will tell.

In any case, our team is on the hunt for opportunities in the AI space and beyond.

We’ll keep you in the loop.