What were all those open letter and "let's jump to Microsoft with Altman" shenanigans that the employees were carrying out then?

Why wouldn't they, if everyone else is? Bills to pay, etc.

Low level employees are there for the money, not for the drama.

I read at the time that there was massive coordinated pressure on the rank and file from the upper levels of the company. When you combine that with OpenAI clawing back vested equity even from people who voluntarily leave, the 95% support means nothing at all.

Nah, there was not massive coordinated pressure. I was one of the ~5% who didn't sign. I got a couple of late-night DMs asking if I had seen the doc and was going to sign it. I said no; although I agreed with the spirit of the doc, I didn't agree with all of its particulars. People were fine with that, didn't push me, and there were zero repercussions afterward.

Thanks for the response.

My dude, it was the biggest, most dramatic crisis in OpenAI’s short history so far. There was no choice, “don’t rock the boat.”