As the lights faded, five performers took their seats at a table on a temporary stage in an art gallery in New York City, transformed into a theater for the evening. Guests enjoyed wine and water in this cozy setting as the audience, filled with media members, gathered to experience the debut of “Doomers,” the newest play by Matthew Gasda, which draws inspiration from the dismissal of Sam Altman as CEO of OpenAI in November 2023.
The narrative portrays the fictional aftermath of OpenAI’s co-founder and previous chief scientist Ilya Sutskever notifying Altman of his termination — a move made by the board due to worries over potential negligence in AI safety and allegations of toxic conduct. Despite the clear depth of research reflected in Gasda’s version of events, the playwright shared with TechCrunch that his aim wasn’t to deliver a documentary, but instead to utilize that backdrop as a lens through which to examine broader philosophical dilemmas concerning AI safety and alignment.
For centuries, humanity has woven myths and narratives around groundbreaking inventions and the associated perils. Much like Prometheus with fire and Oppenheimer with the atomic bomb, we can’t resist our creations. Gasda’s play now contributes to the artistic dialogue regarding the philosophical issues tied to swift technological advancements, solidifying technology and its moguls in the cultural consciousness.
“The humanities and the arts hold the power to comment on this,” Gasda stated in an interview with TechCrunch. “While we might be financially and technologically outmatched, our capacity to authentically represent this world remains intact.”
In “Doomers,” the corporation is named MindMesh, and the self-indulgent, immature, and aggrieved CEO is called Seth.
The first act unfolds in Seth’s “war room,” where he and his close allies deliberate the board’s decision to fire him, contemplate their future actions, and question whether the CEO is justified in relentlessly pursuing transformative technology. The second act shifts to MindMesh’s boardroom, revealing the various anxieties of its members, including the fear that the newly dismissed Seth may retaliate against his betrayers and that “we might be extinguished by a rival species.”
The play’s primary conflict parallels a pressing global issue today — the dichotomy between the existential risks posed by AI and its vast potential.
“I was dismissed for creating miracles”
Gasda mentioned drafting the play 35 times, presenting initial versions to select audiences last August. After several visits to San Francisco and countless intensively focused writing sessions later, he arrived at the version of “Doomers” premiering in New York this weekend, with performances scheduled through February, followed by a showing in San Francisco in March.
Known for his works like “Dimes Square” and “Zoomers,” Gasda expressed a desire to delve into character archetypes and the collective psychology of individuals who may lack self-awareness.
The result features a cast of ten, with half of the characters inspired by actual figures including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, former chief technologist Mira Murati, and co-founder and president Greg Brockman. Murati had served as interim CEO during the corporate upheaval and departed the company to launch her own enterprise in September 2024.
Additional characters are modeled after Helen Toner and Adam D’Angelo, two former board members who supported Altman’s removal, and even Eliezer Yudkowsky, a researcher advocating for the shutdown of OpenAI to prevent potential global catastrophe.
Gasda indicated that Seth, the character reflective of Altman, is among the most authentic representations, yet he also incorporated fictional elements into familiar Bay Area personalities — a ruthless venture capitalist who has bizarre ideas about AI’s future, a fresh Gen Z millionaire founder, and a conceited lawyer from Stanford.
“I aimed to maintain enough realism and credibility to make the play stimulating and the characters relatable enough not to alienate those who are familiar with the events or the workings of an AI company’s board room,” Gasda explained, noting that Altman received a copy of the play prior to its premiere.
The dilemmas presented in discussions are highly relevant: Should AI development accelerate for competitive advantages? Should it be slowed to enhance safety and alignment? Or should its progress be halted entirely to safeguard humanity?
Through these discussions, the characteristics of each role become evident: when faced with a choice between victory and morals, Seth, modeled after Altman, opts for success.
He emphatically claims that the board fired him “for creating miracles,” insisting that prioritizing alignment would squander a “sacred resource.” It is in human nature, he argues, to strive for greatness, asserting that MindMesh serves as an “immune system” designed to protect us from malevolent AGI when it inevitably turns rogue.
“Our only path is to outcompete and out-engineer,” Seth states. Characters resembling Mira Murati and Greg Brockman largely support Seth, even as he belittles them, championing a vision of an AI utopia where technology eradicates disease and enables space exploration. In response, the character representing safety ethics, Alina, quips, “You make it sound like a genie in a bottle.”
Gasda intersperses clever humor throughout “Doomers,” lightening the mood surrounding such a serious topic. He also injects humor by highlighting the subtleties of Silicon Valley culture, with mentions of polycules and ketamine appearing multiple times, and a scene where characters casually consume mushrooms. There are references to Waymo robotaxis, and one character admits, “I realize drinking is low status, but I really need a drink,” as he comments on the Cali-sober trend sweeping the Bay Area.
Lingering safety inquiries
The events depicted in this play occurred nearly 15 months ago, and the discourse surrounding AI has already evolved, as the race for supremacy overshadows crucial safety discussions.
Altman promptly returned to his position after OpenAI engineers threatened mass resignations if he wasn’t reinstated. A newly formed board, supportive of OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit model, has since solidified under Altman’s leadership. Sutskever and Jan Leike, formerly co-leading OpenAI’s now-dissolved superalignment team, have since left the company, along with other researchers who expressed concerns regarding the potential risks from AI labs.
However, this shift has not adversely affected OpenAI.
The organization is reportedly in the process of raising a $40 billion investment round, potentially valuing it at $340 billion, while former President Donald Trump has pledged to safeguard AI from regulation amidst an intensifying arms race against China and the emergence of new competitors like DeepSeek. Essentially, the pace of AI innovation continues to accelerate, aligning with the ambitions of Seth’s character. The pivotal question now is whether this trend is beneficial.
“It’s frightening to construct a deity,” remarks Alina, the play’s ethicist. “Because we are inherently flawed, and this is a reflection of us.”
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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