Person
Helen Toner
Helen Toner is a director at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology and a former OpenAI board member — one of those who voted to remove Sam Altman in November 2023, an episode she has since discussed candidly. Her newsletter Rising Tide argues for taking AI's trajectory seriously without surrendering to either hype or fatalism.
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- Labs & people 2
- Money & business 1
Helen Toner gives first detailed public account of the OpenAI board's decision to fire Altman
Toner said the board first learned of ChatGPT's launch from Twitter and that Altman tried to have her removed after she co-wrote a critical paper.
Labs & people
OpenAI's board fires Sam Altman, and reinstates him five days later
The board cited a loss of confidence but gave no detail; around 700 of roughly 770 employees threatened to resign, and the board itself was replaced.
Labs & people · Money & business
Commentary by Helen Toner
From the commentary rail — every link leaves the site for the original piece.
- 6 April 2026 · Rising TideThe term “AGI” is almost useless at this pointWe’ve entered the fuzzy cloud of “AGI-ish”—now we need more specific and ambitious milestones
- 24 November 2025 · Rising TideTaking Jaggedness SeriouslyWhy we should expect AI capabilities to keep being extremely uneven, and why that matters
- 30 June 2025 · Rising TideUnresolved debates about the future of AIHow far the current paradigm can go, AI improving AI, and whether thinking of AI as a tool will keep making sense
- 6 June 2025 · Rising TideBuilding supercomputers for autocrats probably isn’t good for democracy, actuallyThe shameless spin around OpenAI's Stargate UAE
- 12 May 2025 · Rising TideIn search of a dynamist vision for safe superhuman AIEmbracing creativity, risk-taking, and competition while staying clear-eyed about risks
- 23 April 2025 · Rising Tide2 big questions for AI progress in 2025-2026On how good AI might—or might not—get at tasks beyond math & coding
- 5 April 2025 · Rising TideNonproliferation is the wrong approach to AI misuseMaking the most of “adaptation buffers” is a more realistic and less authoritarian strategy
- 3 April 2025 · Rising TideThe core challenge of AI alignment is “steerability”"Steered to where" is a different question from "steerable at all"
- 1 April 2025 · Rising Tide"Long" timelines to advanced AI have gotten crazy shortThe prospect of reaching human-level AI in the 2030s should be jarring
In the commentary
Pieces from around the web that discuss Helen Toner. External links.
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