Vincent Tam

Started writing a caption about how getting out of the city brings peace and perspective. Then I realized, despite all its problems, there's still so much to find inspiring about the energy, culture, and people here.

@jachiam0 Well said Josh. Love the deep RL workshop you ran back in the day. Met good people there. Appreciate the resources people like you and Lillian were putting out early on. Thanks and Godspeed.

Here's the closing message I sent to everyone today. My dear friends! Today’s my last day at OpenAI. I have been thinking a lot about what I wanted to say in my final remarks to the company. Here are a few things I hope everyone takes deeply to heart. 1. For All of Humanity. What we have been building here is an opportunity to improve the human condition unlike any other in history. It’s easy to get distracted by the wealth and power that comes with this. It’s easy to focus on the already wealthy and powerful in the world, because they demand so much of our attention as customers or lawmakers or competitors. Nonetheless, do not lose sight of the “all” in “all of humanity.” Our mission for everyone. Working people. People in poverty. People who dream of a better life. What we are building can help them. It is our mission to ensure that it does. To that end, yesterday I donated a major gift to GiveDirectly, a charity that makes direct cash transfers to people in poverty in Africa and in the United States. This is a highly effective way of helping people; I encourage others to consider giving as well. 2. Risk Is Our Business. Technology changes the security equilibrium of the world profoundly and creates new risks. Some of these risks will directly result from AI; many others will result from other fields of science and engineering that are accelerated by AI. Risk is inextricable from progress. It is not a reason to turn our back on progress. I think, from time to time, of a speech from Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek—“Risk is our business,” he says about humanity as a whole. I believe this is true. But we should also be cognizant of the risks and we should actively manage them. We can simultaneously believe that it will require extraordinary effort to accomplish the safety and security of humanity, while committing to making that effort in support of our work to advance the technological frontier. The question of progress and safety is not either/or. It is definitively “both.” 3. The Consent of the Governed. OpenAI, and especially the OpenAI Foundation, will be among the most important organizations in the world. The level of power concentrated here will be like the power of a state. It demands a level of accountability that exceeds that of an ordinary company. I encourage OpenAI to pursue a path of governance innovation that makes it progressively more democratic and more beholden to the consent of the governed. All of humanity will be impacted by the work here; all of humanity should have some way to weigh in eventually. There is no roadmap for what form this should take. This is an ideal. But I hold it entirely. Thank you all again so much for being a part of an unbelievable nine year journey with me. To Safe AGI!

@chrismichel Sorry for your loss. Goodbye Om. Years ago, I came for the tech writing, stayed for the soulful human being. Love the art he put into the world, especially his photography. The universe is richer and brighter for his presence in it. His light shines on in every life he’s touched.

I’ve known Om Malik for 26 years. We built companies during the first internet boom. We discovered photography together. We wandered Greenland, Svalbard, Wyoming, Idaho, and plenty of places in between. During COVID, he was part of my tiny bubble. We spent far more time talking about life, art, and philosophy than we ever did talking about technology. The world knew Om as one of the greatest technology writers of his generation. He had a rare gift for seeing past the headlines and finding what actually mattered. He didn’t just explain what was happening. He explained why it mattered and where it might lead. Ironically, some of his finest writing came from his hospital room during the last two months as he waited for a new heart. In the end, a heart never came. There is something painfully unfair about that. Om was one of the biggest hearted people I’ve ever known. His loss leaves a hole that stretches far beyond technology. It reaches into the lives of friends scattered across the world who laughed with him, traveled with him, argued with him, and came away seeing things a little differently. I’ll miss his curiosity. His generosity. His perspective. Most of all, I’ll miss my friend. This is a small collection of what 26 years of friendship looked like. christophermichel.com/People/Om-the-…

@Reuben_Wu Well congrats anyway. I’m sure it was great.

@vincenttam Sadly it was never recorded!

Gm from Hong Kong where I just delivered a presentation from inside this building 🥚

@kepano @obsdmd Awesome thank you. These are great. Nice seeing a couple in the "making of" category. Loved Jodorowsky's Dune.

@vincenttam @obsdmd here you go, but keep in mind these are just ones I personally enjoy for various reasons, they're not necessarily universally great movies that everyone should see

you can put an @obsdmd base in a sidebar, and reference the current file

@neuranne @lukeburgis @p_millerd @kenneth0stanley @toddrose Todd Rose also wrote Collective Illusions, which Jim O'Shaughnessy mentioned during your amazing conversation with him on Infinite Loops. And also here: x.com/jposhaughnessy…

@vincenttam @lukeburgis @p_millerd @kenneth0stanley @toddrose Oh someone mentioned it to me a long time ago but I haven’t read it, thank you for the suggestion!

I want to create an expanded reading list of books that pair well with Tiny Experiments. Books like: • Wanting @lukeburgis • The Pathless Path @p_millerd • Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned @kenneth0stanley Any suggestions to add to the list?

@neuranne How fulfilling to see it out in the wild. Looks so good on a book shelf. Congratulations.

Two photos that make me incredibly happy: (1) my book is # 10 in the bestselling business charts at Heathrow Airport! (2) my parents just arrived in London to celebrate the launch of Tiny Experiments. Life is good 💛

@TheAnnaGat So sorry Anna. May his light continue to shine through you.

My father is gone. (1947-2024) Good bye, Daddy! I love you so. We’ll meet again … 🖤

@tasshinfogleman @BerkeleyAlembic See you again in Jan.

i'll be returning to the @BerkeleyAlembic to lead a Mettā Dance Party on January 20th! if you'll be in the Bay then, i'd love to see you there and send love to all beings together ❤️ eventbrite.com/e/metta-dance-…

@tasshinfogleman The intersection of metta and decision-making, and how that can encourage making choices from love/kindness/joy rather than fear, particularly in difficult situations that would predispose someone to act from a place of fear/scarcity.

49. @vincenttam x.com/tasshinfoglema…

for Threadapalooza last year, i listed 100 questions about topics I'm curious about or conversations I'd be interested in having. x.com/tasshinfoglema…

@mary_bajorek @interintellect_ @priyaparker Wonderful salon. Enjoyed being with folks who put so much thought and care into bringing people together. Loved the stories from everyone. Thanks for hosting @mary_bajorek !

loved hosting the @interintellect_ salon on @priyaparker's The Art of Gathering! Thank you for everyone who joined

@interintellect_ @p_millerd Enjoyed the conversation and vibe in your salon today! Appreciate your *work*, and I'm glad it's seeping out into the collective consciousness. Also love David Whyte's writing and his poems like Finisterre and Santiago. Thanks @p_millerd

Join @p_millerd salon today to explore some of the deeper stories that underlie many people’s relationship to work, that were evolved into a book "The Pathless Path" interintellect.com/salon/emerging…

@normonics Your iPad drawing skills must've sealed the deal. Congratulations. Hope to hear more about complexity & educating problem solvers in your writing.

I am joining as the team's resident Applied Complexity Scientist (first company to have such a position?) My aim is to help turn Synthesis into an evolutionary ecosystem growing and adapting alongside students who we intend to help become world-class problem solvers. 🚀🚀🚀

Some personal news: As of today I'm starting a new job at @synthesischool I'm wicked excited. The team is young, energetic, and curious. There is a massive interest in complexity and how it can be applied to the company, the student experience, and as subject matter itself.

@cazza42 @viewbug Well-deserved. Stunning shot. Belongs in @NatGeo

I received a peer recognition @Viewbug viewbug.com/photo/57371403 #photography

2022 contrarian take: San Francisco is still amazing. We take for granted how beautiful it is as a city. It’s worth fighting for.

@rivatez Well said. Worth fighting for. x.com/iamvincenttam/…

@MarielRosic Love this photo. Curiosity piqued and want to know more about that structure.

The air reeks, and I mean REEKS, of sulphur, but good god is it beautiful here.