Diane Papan is a California Assembly member introduced a bill, California AB-501, that would stand in the way of converting OpenAI from a nonprofit into a for-profit. (Stuart Russell, Yann LeCun, Lawrence Lessig, and many others including me signed a petition in its support.) Tens of billions of dollars are at stake. Here’s what AB-501 looked like back when I signed the petition a few days ago.
Here’s what it looks like now. Can you spot the difference?
Aircraft liens? What the actual f_ck?
My sources assure me that this is NOT a clerical error and that Papan’s office confirms that the change is real.
Rumor has it that Altman called Papan just before the change. What did he tell her? StopAI, perhaps first to report this, took a dark view:
Media, get out there and find out what happened.
10 Comments
ipsum2
Gary Marcus has a tendency of not telling the truth and cherry picking facts, but in this case, the bill change does seem real.
It is disgusting that he is using someone's suicide as a conspiracy theory though.
https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB501/2025
odo1242
~~This is kinda ridiculous, especially considering the bill wouldn’t even affect OpenAI itself (that would make it an ex post facto law) but just close the loophole for the future.~~ (edit: I misread)
I say this as a user of AI, I’ve seen the nonprofit structure get abused way too much for my liking. Not that I have any solutions to the problem though.
thaumasiotes
I would have liked to read something about the legal mechanics here. The bill has had the entirety of its text removed, and the text has been replaced with a thoroughly trivial change to the required procedure for selling aircraft under some circumstances. (Instead of posting public notice in three public places, you have to post it in five public places.)
Obviously, (1) the purpose of this is to withdraw the bill; and (2) nobody really cares about the adjustment to the sale procedure.
So I can infer that replacing the bill with an unrelated bill of the same name is easier than replacing it with nothing at all. But why is that?
loteck
It's called a gut and amend procedure. Welcome to the California legislature!
[0] https://capitolweekly.net/the-micheli-files-gut-and-amend-bi…
wateringcan
According to the assembly rules (if I am understanding them correctly), amendments like that are considered out of order and can be shot down with a majority vote:
"92. An amendment to any bill, other than a bill stating legislative
intent to make necessary statutory changes to implement the Budget
Bill, whether reported by a committee or offered by a Member, is not in
order when the amendment relates to a different subject than, is intended
to accomplish a different purpose than, or requires a title essentially
different than, the original bill."
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/rules/assembly_rules.pdf
That being said, it seems that typically nobody in the legislature ever cares to challenge it. I saw it happen for another bill this session too (an AI bill that became something about commercial fishing).
khazhoux
How does blocking their conversion help citizens? Are we saying all AI companies must be nonprofit?
bcoates
The system works? The original bill was a going-nowhere, feel-good sop for chumps, the chumps were placated, the bill served its purpose, everyone moved on.
Imagine a world where random crusading busybodies were actually given the power to interfere with every random business deal that made them feel sad, like some sort of HOA for the economy.
valtism
I really don't see the issue with OpenAI becoming for-profit. They started as a research group with no intention of creating a marketable product, and stumbled onto one. I think it would make sense for them to become for-profit.
mentalgear
This seems like blatant corruption, based on points the article mentions:
a. Making a bill that was about AI suddenly only about "airlines"
b. this happened just after an alleged call from Altman to Diane Papan (who introduced the bill)
—
The best comment/course of action I have seen on this article is from Bruce Olsen who actually took action to get journalists to notice.
If you care about fairness/the law in AI (& society), and have someone you know in journalism, I would suggest you to do the same. Or even just send an email to the office of Diane Papan (bill owner).
[0] https://a21.asmdc.org/contact-frame
—
Appendix: Bruce's letter for reference
> I sent the following note to Phil Matier, GOAT California political reporter. Hope it helps.
///////
Subject: Who Got To Diane Papan on AB-501?
Phil –
I'm a longtime fan, used to listen on KCBS when I lived in the Bay Area. You, Madden, and Al Hart were my favorites. Great, great analysis, which I sorely miss.
Did Sam Altman get to Diane Papan?
Her bill preventing OpenAI from converting away from a non-profit suddenly became a bill about aircraft liens (!) Sounds like the same kind of billionaire bullshit that's going around these days.
https://open.substack.com/pub/garymarcus/p/breaking-bill-tha…
It stinks. I'm sure you'll be able to do something with this lead.
I don't have any $kin in this game. I'm retired and follow Marcus's writing, and I'm also a citizen who knows how important this is.
Bruce Olsen
HenryBemis
I feel that there a few people (wielding extreme power) in this world that are/were cancer for humanity. Hitler (obviously), Stalin (obviously), Mao (obviously). Two more that don't have blood on their hands (debatable for Zuckerberg – Myanmar) but have messed up plenty of lives are Zuckerberg (already done – through action, inaction, and corruption) and now Altman (about to do – through action, and corruption).
Every time his name is in the new I 'like' him less and less.
I hope some 'wise king' will stop him, or at least slow him/them down until controls are in place. We cannot have a "move fast/break things" for _this_ newest technology.
I totally admire the 'setup' that US has, making it the 'best inventor' in the world (gathering talent, giving them the tools/funding/environment to thrive), but this reminds me the Hellhounds from Supernatural. We don't see them, but they are out to get us.
I foresee the future.. Altman will be on Joe Rogan in a couple of years from now stating how he was 'tricked' into making the mistake (a la Zuck), which caused upset, and havoc, and ….
As for Diana Papan.. I will go ahead an imagine that she secured the funding she needs for her next campaigns!! And so the lobbying (aka legal bribing/buying politicians) continues!!!