Culture is becoming a dark forest: OpenAI hunted the researchers who worked in the open
erikphoel · x · 2026-09-09
Citing the story that OpenAI went after Diego Córdoba and Luis Martínez-Zoroa — researchers doing their work in the open — the author says "OpenAI started hunting the hunters," then extends his dark forest thesis: the future of intellectual work is crouching behind a tree, frantically finishing your contribution in silence, since one prompt can produce an almost-as-good version and mine away your insight and reward. Staggering successes will still rise in the forest, but never collaboratively — you'll only find gleaming sculptures of unclear origin at dawn.
Related event: Erik Hoel's Essay: AI Is Turning Culture into a Dark Forest(10 posts)→
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