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Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman says engineers need this one trait to succeed
OpenAI's cofounder and president, Greg Brockman, has one piece of advice for engineers joining his company: Check your ego at the door. The most critical quality for engineers to succeed at OpenAI is "technical humility, Brockman said at the AI Engineer World's Fair in San Francisco on June 4. "You're coming in because you have skills that are important," he said in a video recording of the session that was published on AI Engineer's YouTube channel on Monday. "But it's a totally different environment from something like a traditional web startup." That insight, he said, came from watching culture clashes between colleagues from engineering and research backgrounds. He said engineers often think, "We've agreed on an interface, I can implement it however I want." Researchers, by contrast, see the system as a whole, where even a tiny bug can quietly degrade performance. In one early project, Brockman said OpenAI's engineering team ground to a halt debating every line of code. His solution was simple. He'd propose five ideas, a researcher would reject four, and they'd move forward with the one that remained. The key for engineers, Brockman said, is knowing when to trust your instincts and when to leave them behind. "The most important thing is to come in, really listen, and kind of assume that there's something that you're missing until you deeply understand the why," he said. "Then, at that point, great, make the change," he added. Brockman and OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. What it takes to succeed at OpenAI Leaders at OpenAI have spoken about what it takes for employees to thrive at the company. "Approaching each scenario from scratch is so important in this space," Nick Turley, the head of ChatGPT, told Lenny Rachitsky on his weekly tech podcast on Saturday. "There is no analogy for what we're building. You can't copy an existing thing." He said OpenAI cannot iterate on products or features developed by tech giants like Instagram or Google. "You can learn from everywhere, but you have to do it from scratch. That's why that trait tends to make someone effective at OpenAI, and it's something we test for," he said, referring to an employee's ability to start a project from the ground up. According to OpenAI's interview guide, which is published on its website, the company looks for candidates who can "ramp up quickly in a new domain and produce results." It also values "collaboration, effective communication, openness to feedback, and alignment with our mission and values." Brockman, a software engineer by training, dropped out of MIT to join the payments startup Stripe in 2010, becoming its CTO before leaving in 2015 to cofound OpenAI. He took a three-month leave of absence from the company in August 2024, at which point the company was going through a period of major staffing and leadership upheaval. He returned that November in a new technical leadership role.
Daily Mail
26-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Moment thug who killed 'gentle' engineer with one punch after 'brushing together' on the Tube is arrested - as fury grows over 'inadequate' prison sentence that could see him released in six years
This is the moment a Tube passenger was arrested after killing a commuter who 'brushed past' him with a single punch. Rakeem Miles, 24, grabbed 'gentle' AI engineer Samuel Winter from behind with such force he tore his top in two before punching him once in the head, sending him tumbling to the floor. The brutal assault left Mr Winter fatally injured, dying in hospital two days after the attack. Miles ultimately pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He is now serving an eight-year sentence - but could be out on the streets in five and a half years. Campaigners are calling for the sentence to be revisited, branding it 'simply inadequate'. The pair had been travelling on separate carriages on the Jubilee line before disembarking at Southwark Underground station at around 9.30pm on August 22 last year. As they left the station, Mr Winter 'brushed past' Miles and continued walking. Miles stopped in his tracks for a second before following after Mr Winter, shouting after him - before grabbing him by his top and throwing a single, powerful punch which connected with the tech worker's head with such force he collapsed. The thug then fled from the scene as he left his victim - who had not interacted with him beyond passing him in Southwark Underground station - fatally hurt on the stairs. Police worked rapidly to trace Miles as paramedics took Mr Winter to hospital with a critical brain injury. They quickly used Oyster card data to trace his top-ups back to a nearby shop. When officers arrived at the shop the next morning, a worker informed them that Miles had just left moments earlier - and they stormed down the street to arrest him on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. In video footage released by the British Transport Police, Miles can be seen being restrained by police officers in the street. He appears to make no attempt to resist and bows his head as he is handcuffed and led into a police van. The charge of GBH was elevated to murder after Mr Winter - described in tributes as 'gentle, kind and patient' - died on August 24, surrounded by his family. But Miles was cleared of murder by a jury in March - instead pleading guilty to a manslaughter, for which he was sentenced on Tuesday to eight years imprisonment with a further five years on licence. He must serve at least five and a half years before he will be eligible for parole, with no guarantee of release at that time. However, the apparent levity of the sentence has sparked anger and calls for a tougher sentence. Susan Hall, leader of City Hall Conservatives, told MailOnline: 'My heart breaks. Samuel Winter brushed past someone in a Tube station - something we all do, daily - and this heartless monster took his life. 'Samuel Winter will not go home to his family and friends, he will not go back to his job, he will not live out the rest of his life, tragically cut short as it was. '(Rakeem Miles) will do five years at a push before he walks free, without any remorse or consequences beyond that. There is no justice in it at all, and I despair that this is what London has come to. 'Make no mistake - any one of us could have been Samuel Winter. My thoughts are with his family.' Campaign group Crush Crime has submitted a request to the Attorney General's Office for a review of Miles' sentence. It said in its request: 'This was an unprovoked attack, with multiple stages at which Rakeem Miles could have chosen to stop. 'A sentence of 8 years (with five and a half years before he is eligible for parole) is simply inadequate for a remorseless killer that pursued his victim for an unprovoked attack. 'It is difficult to see why such a short sentence is justified or why it is important for Rakeem Miles to be potentially out on Britain's streets, walking past members of the public, in five and a half years time. The sentence must be revisited.' A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office confirmed that they had received a request to review Miles' sentence. They added: 'We have received a request for this sentence to be considered under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme. 'The Law Officers have 28 days from sentencing to consider the case and make a decision.' An online CV suggests Mr Winter had been working in technology for a multinational medical firm, and had volunteered with a number of Christian organisations and as a physiotherapist. Online tributes described him as 'kind, intelligent, clever... and always ready to help those in need'. Senior Investigating Officer Detective Chief Inspector Paul Attwell said: 'Though nothing can bring Samuel back, I hope today's sentencing allows his family some small measure of comfort as they continue to grieve for him. 'Samuel's family described him as gentle and kind, and he will be sorely missed by all those who love him. We reiterate our requests to give the family privacy at such a difficult time. 'It only took one punch from Miles to end Samuel's life and forever change the lives of those around him. 'He showed no remorse for his action, leaving Samuel at the station and continuing on with his evening. 'The quick-time and thorough investigation by the teams involved meant Miles was identified and apprehended quickly. 'There is zero tolerance for violence on the railway and I'd like to thank my team for their hard work and determination to secure justice for Samuel's family.' In a heart-wrenching tribute, the victim's family said: 'Sam was a very much-loved son, brother, grandson, cousin, nephew and friend. 'We are devastated his life here has ended. He was a qualified physiotherapist, AI engineer and a volunteer with several charities. 'His family and friends will remember him as gentle and kind, quick-witted and funny, with deep faith and an unendingly giving spirit.'
