The AI startup says Altman was “not consistently open in his communications with the board.”
Sam Altman, the Silicon Valley CEO behind artificial intelligence-based chatbots ChatGPT and GPT-4, was suddenly fired by his company’s board, sparking a major shakeup in the tech industry.
Microsoft-backed OpenAI said Friday that its board opted for the “leadership change” after losing confidence in Altman’s ability to lead the company.
“Mr. Altman’s departure follows an advisory review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, which prevented him from fulfilling his responsibilities,” the company said in a statement on its blog .
The board said it was grateful for Altman’s contributions but decided “new leadership is necessary as we move forward.”
The company or its board did not provide any information about the reasons for Altman’s departure.
Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati has been named interim CEO until a more permanent successor is found to lead the $90 billion company.
Altman represented the company on a panel at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in San Francisco just this week.
Shortly after the announcement, Altman said in a post
I enjoyed my time at Openai. It changed me personally and hopefully the world a little. What I enjoyed most was working with such talented people.
I’ll have more to say about what comes next later.
🫡
– Sam Altman (@sama) November 17, 2023
Altman said in later posts the full value of my shares.”
Unlike other tech founders like Mark Zuckerberg, Altman did not own shares in OpenAI and could be fired at any time, news site Semafor reported earlier this year.
Altman’s surprise departure sparked strong reactions across the technology sector.
Former Google CEO Eric Shmidt described Altman on X as a “hero” who “changed our collective world forever.”
OpenAI President Greg Brockman, who co-founded the startup with Altman and Elon Musk, announced shortly after the news broke that he was also leaving the company.
“We’ve been through hard times and great times together and accomplished a lot despite the reasons it would have been impossible, but because of today’s news I’ve stopped,” he said on X.
After learning today’s news, I sent this message to the OpenAI team: https://t.co/NMnG16yFmm pic.twitter.com/8x39P0ejOM
– Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023
In September, New York Magazine published a profile comparing the tech entrepreneur to J. Robert Oppenheimer – known as the father of the atomic bomb – and Time Magazine included him in its list of the 100 most influential people in AI in 2023.