The Rundown:

According to a report by Reuters, OpenAI had a secret breakthrough called Q* (pronounced Q-Star) that precipitated the firing of Sam Altman.

The details:

Before Sam’s firing, researchers sent the board a letter warning of a new AI discovery that could “threaten humanity.” The new model dubbed Q* demonstrated internal capabilities of doing simple math (something no model has achieved). While simple math might not seem impressive to most, it could be a huge step toward creating artificial general intelligence (AGI). A day before Sam was fired, he gave a chilling speech, quoting: “Is this a tool we’ve built or a creature we have built?”

Why it matters:

While Q* is not fully confirmed yet, if true, the entire firing of Sam Altman could have been AGI-related all along, and the board’s drastic (and unexplained) actions would make more sense.