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Everyone knows it's bullshit but because these companies are being valued at a trillion dollars a piece, it's hard to say that if you were in their shoes you'd do any differently.
This may surprise the cohort on hacker news but there are large amounts of people on this planet that value things beyond money like ethics or having principles. Excusing absolutely repugnant behavior because of money to be made is so deeply antihuman, but then again most people working at LLM companies are deeply antihuman to start with.
> but then again most people working at LLM companies are deeply antihuman to start with.

I agreed with you up til this point, but this isn’t true and isn’t called for, and doesn’t strengthen your otherwise good point, in fact it weakens your point to make statements like that. Most people who work at LLM companies, like most people who work at most companies, are making a living and have the same ethics and principles as anyone else. I don’t know where you work or live, but don’t forget the exact same logic and exact same hyperbole is being used to make the same claim about people in tech, and the same claim about Americans and Europeans.

Really? They can't get any other tech jobs? They have to work for AI companies? Give me a break
No it's totally called for. This is technology that is literally ruining, destroying, and killing lives. Especially in regards to how US companies are operating with this tech. It's a valid claim, "just following" orders has never been a valid excuse.

These people just care about chasing the bag rather than doing right by their fellow humans. In their mind clearly some humans are more equal than others.

edit: to reiterate, the people choosing to work at these companies care more about becoming millionaires and chasing generational wealth rather than maybe questioning if the machine they are building may be producing terrible outcomes. They can work at any company on this planet easily, stop running coverage for FAANG workers that have always shown disdain for their fellow humans, they choose to work at the misery death machines because they simply do not care about the destruction they have wrought about the world.

You can say that but Anthropic are literally the "good guys" that were disgusted by Altman and co, yet even they seem to have sold off their morality. Absolute money corrupts absolutely.
They are not the good guys and never where. They where fine with the Claude being used to plan the murder of people and spying on people as long as they where outside the USA. That is not something "good guys" do, thats what sellouts do. Everyone working at these companies, who where paid small fortunes to ignore any feelings they might have. Hopefully we get a modern version of the nuremberg trials when this madness in the USA is over and we the people will then judge everyone involved.
I absolutely would do differently. Their behavior in public is gross.
Sure, everyone can be on their high horse from the comfort of their arm chair.