I was once employed by a startup that was about to go under, but got a last minute acquisition offer. The CEO pulled me aside at one point and made an observation I’ve never forgotten.

He said “You know, when it looked like the company was going to be a total loss, everyone was really great about it. The VCs told me not to be discouraged, that we’d given it our all. No bitterness or blaming at all. But once the buyout offer was on the table, everyone’s knives came out. Everyone wanted to take the money from everyone else, and get away with as much as they could even if it meant shafting literally everyone else. You’d think people would be at their worst in a time of deprivation but it’s when there’s something to be had that people really show their worst.”

OpenAI is a golden goose right now. I’m not surprised if there’s a lot of knifing happening in its vicinity.