In a dramatic turnaround late Friday, former Y Combinator president Sam Altman was fired by OpenAI’s board as CEO of AI startup OpenAI, the company behind viral AI hits like ChatGPT, GPT-4 and DALL-E 3. Then the company’s longtime president and co-founder, Greg Brockman, resigned – as did three senior OpenAI researchers. And the consequences continue.
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It’s a rapidly changing situation that we’re still trying to get to the bottom of. No doubt more will become clear as time goes on. However, to make it easier to keep track of everything that’s happened in the meantime, we’ve put together a timeline; We will do our best to keep it up to date.
Timeline of Sam Altman’s firing from OpenAI
November 16th
Ilya Sutskever plans a call with Altman
A post by Brockman
Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today.
First, let’s thank all the incredible people we’ve worked with at OpenAI, our customers, our investors and everyone who has supported us.
We’re still trying to figure it out…
– Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023
Murati recounted Altman’s firing
Brockman claims that Mira Murati, CTO of OpenAI and now interim CEO, was informed on Thursday evening that Altman would be fired.
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November 17th
Brockman demoted
Brockman says he received a text message from Sutskever shortly after noon on Friday requesting a quick call. After sending a Google Meet link, Brockman was told that he was being removed from the board as chairman, “but was critical to the company and would retain his role as president,” and that Altman had been fired.
Altman’s firing was publicly announced
OpenAI published a post on its blog announcing the executive restructuring. The company’s management team soon became aware of this.
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
All-hands meeting
OpenAI held an all-hands meeting Friday afternoon, where Sutskever defended Altman’s ouster. He dismissed suggestions that ousting Altman amounted to a “hostile takeover,” claiming it was necessary to protect OpenAI’s mission of “making AI beneficial to humanity.”
Microsoft issues a statement
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, a major investor and partner of OpenAI, released a statement on Altman’s firing:
“As you saw at Microsoft Ignite this week, we continue to rapidly innovate for this age of AI, with over 100 announcements across the technology space from AI systems, models and tools in Azure to Copilot. Most importantly, we are committed to providing our customers with all of this while building for the future. We have a long-term agreement with OpenAI with full access to everything we need to deliver our innovation agenda and an exciting product roadmap; and remain loyal to our partnership and Mira and the team. Together we will continue to bring the significant benefits of this technology to the world.”
Brockman gives up
Brockman announced his resignation from OpenAI, citing “today’s news.” After sending an internal memo, he published the text on X.
Lead OpenAI researchers resign
After Brockman, three senior OpenAI researchers are stepping down, including research director Jakub Pachocki and head of readiness Aleksander Madry.
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November 18
“Not… in response to misconduct.”
In an internal memo obtained by Axios on Saturday morning, OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap said yesterday’s announcement was “a long time coming.” [the management team] surprising” and that management “had several discussions with the board to try to better understand the reasons and process behind their decision.” According to the memo, the discussions took place on Saturday morning.
“We can definitively say that the board’s decision was not made in response to any misconduct or anything related to our financial, business, security or security/privacy practices,” Lightcap added. “There has been a breakdown in communication between Sam and the board here… We still share your concerns about how the process was handled, are working to resolve the situation and will provide updates where possible.”
OpenAI’s funding is in jeopardy
The planned sale of OpenAI employee shares, which would give the startup a value of around $86 billion, could be in jeopardy. The Information, which spoke to three previous sources at the company, reports that due to the recent turn of events, they no longer expect the sale – led by Thrive Capital – to go through or, if it does, to be accompanied by a lower valuation.
Altman plans new venture
According to The Information, Altman has told investors that he plans to start a new company. Brockman is expected to join the effort, in whatever form it takes. (Possibly an AI chip startup.)
I love you all.
Today was a strange experience in many ways. But something unexpected is that it was a bit like reading your own eulogy while you’re still alive. the overflowing love is great.
One takeaway: tell your friends how great you think they are.
– Sam Altman (@sama) November 18, 2023
Investors are pushing for Altman’s return
Investors, angry at the turn of events, are reportedly putting pressure on OpenAI’s board to reinstate Altman, even going so far as to recruit Microsoft. Nadella is supposed to be likeable.
The board agrees to change course – in principle
The Verge reports that the board has agreed in principle to the resignation and return of Altman and Brockman. However, it was a mystery because yesterday it missed a deadline by which many OpenAI employees were supposed to leave the company. Altman is said to be ambivalent about coming back and demanding “significant” changes in governance.
November 19th
Altman meets at OpenAI headquarters
According to The Information, Altman is expected to meet at OpenAI’s headquarters in San Francisco as OpenAI executives push for his reinstatement as CEO. Brockman has been invited to join – but it is unclear whether he will accept the invitation.
The board negotiations stalled
Bloomberg reports that Lightcap and Murati, among others, are pushing the board to reinstate Altman. Unsurprisingly, however, directors are resisting. As of midday Sunday, the board, concerned about who might replace him, had not resigned and was considering candidates. One possible new addition could be Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor.
Altman out, Shear in
According to a report from The Information, citing an internal memo from Sutskever, Altman will not return as CEO. As the search for a new permanent CEO continues, OpenAI has named Emmett Shear, the co-founder of video streaming site Twitch, as interim CEO – replacing Murati.
20th November
Altman moves to Microsoft
Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and colleagues announce they will join Microsoft to lead a new AI research team. Nadella leaves the door open for other OpenAI employees, saying they will receive the resources they need if they decide to join.
Sutskever’s mea culpa
Sutskever published on
I deeply regret that I participated in the board’s actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we’ve built together and I’ll do everything I can to reunite the company.
— Ilya Sutskever (@ilyasut) November 20, 2023
Employees threaten to resign
Nearly 500 of OpenAI’s roughly 770 employees — including, notably, Sutskever — are releasing a letter saying they may quit if the startup’s board doesn’t resign and reappoint the ousted Altman.