When putsch comes to shove, stay reasonable

JUST when Sam Altman thought he was out, they pulled him back in. After a week of nail-biting intrigue that would have captivated author Mario Puzo, Altman is back at the helm of OpenAI, and all of Silicon Valley knows now who is truly boss or, rather, the Don.

Forget for a moment artificial intelligence (AI), and consider the significant mismatch of human intelligence that unfolded last week. Against the Godfather-esque manoeuvrings of Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, the OpenAI board members that had pushed Altman out never stood a chance.

Instead of responding with furious bluster, Nadella took several pages from Don Vito Corleone’s book. When negotiating, “Never get angry. Never make a threat. Reason with people,” Don Corleone had said in Puzo’s The Godfather.