OpenAI
The firing of the CEO behind the company ChatGPT sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley – only for him to be rehired days later
Sat Nov 25, 2023 10:00 GMT
When OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took the stage in San Francisco nine days ago, he hinted at another major development in the world of artificial intelligence.
“Four times in the history of OpenAI, most recently in the last few weeks, I have had the privilege of being in the room as we push back the veil of ignorance and push the frontiers of discovery forward, and “To accomplish this is my professional honor of life,” he said at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Given that he leads the company behind ChatGPT – a chatbot that has changed the AI debate – this was a tantalizing comment. And the next day, a big event actually happened in AI – Altman was fired.
OpenAI’s board of directors announced on Friday, November 17, that it had fired the 38-year-old for failing to “continuously communicate openly” with its members, without providing further details about the alleged breaches of trust.
Altman was informed of the upcoming events after he left the stage and received a text message from fellow board member Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s chief scientist, asking the CEO to speak via Google Meet at noon the next day. According to a post on
Brockman did not participate in the call, but a few minutes later he too was called to Google Meet and told he would be removed from the forum. Brockman was told he could stay with the company but chose to quit. OpenAI named Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, as interim CEO.
The announcement of Altman’s firing sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley and immediately led to OpenAI investors pushing for his return. OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit company whose board runs a commercial subsidiary in which Microsoft is the largest investor. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said his company had not been contacted before the announcement.
Posting on The Information, a tech news site, this Friday, Altman cited a memo from the company’s chief strategy officer, Jason Kwon, telling employees on Saturday that efforts were underway to recoup Altman and other terminated colleagues, including the three senior researchers, Jakub Pachocki, Aleksander Mądry and Szymon Sidor.
“We are still working on a solution and remain optimistic,” Kwon wrote. “By resolution we mean the return of Sam, Greg, Jakub, Szymon, Aleksander and other colleagues.”
Sunday brought further twists. Altman posted a picture of himself at OpenAI headquarters in San Francisco with a guest pass that read, “For the first and last time I’m wearing one of these.”
Talks with OpenAI’s four remaining board members fell through and Emmett Shear, the former CEO of video game streaming platform Twitch, was named the company’s third CEO in three days. Shortly afterward, Nadella announced that Microsoft had tapped Altman and Brockman to lead a “new advanced AI research team,” although he added in a series of media interviews on Monday that he was open to both staying at OpenAI. As one analyst pointed out, Altman would have a de facto leadership role at OpenAI due to Microsoft’s investment.
On Monday, simmering staff discontent over Altman’s ouster erupted into open revolt. The vast majority of OpenAI’s 770 employees, including Murati, signed a letter addressed to the board threatening to resign en masse unless Altman and Brockman were reinstated by the board – a move that was then followed by the board’s resignation would have to follow.
“We are unable to work for or with people who lack competence, judgment and care for our mission and our people,” said the letter, which was surprisingly also signed by board member Sutskever.
The other three board members were: Adam D’Angelo, the co-founder of question-and-answer website Quora; Tasha McCauley, a technology entrepreneur; and Helen Toner, director and AI security expert at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology.
However, it became clear that Altman was getting closer to a return. Anna Makanju, vice president of global affairs at OpenAI, told employees that “intense discussions” were taking place to resolve the crisis. Bloomberg reported that Murati sent a message to Slack platform employees saying, “I’m still working on this…”
Then a deal was struck. OpenAI announced Tuesday evening in California that it had reached an agreement in principle that Altman would return with a revamped “first-tier” board chaired by Bret Taylor, the former co-chief executive of software company Salesforce, along with Larry Summers, formerly US Treasury Secretary and D’Angelo. Altman has not yet regained his place on the board.
OpenAI will reportedly conduct an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Altman’s departure, which was initially announced by Shear. Shear had denied that Altman’s firing was related to safety concerns.
But after Altman’s return, Portal and The Information reported that some OpenAI researchers had been concerned about the capabilities of a new AI model that was being worked on at the company before the CEO was fired. According to the information, the “Q*” model – pronounced “Q-star” – was able to solve mathematical problems that had not existed before, representing a possible breakthrough in the technology.
OpenAI was founded in 2015 with the goal of developing “safe and useful artificial general intelligence.” [AGI] for the benefit of humanity.” AGI refers to an AI that can perform a variety of tasks at or above human intelligence levels.
Some experts fear that the emergence of AGI could theoretically lead to a system capable of escaping human control and endangering humanity. OpenAI’s board has changed, but its mission has not.
Altman, who had reportedly called for a new board as a condition of his return, indicated on Thursday – Thanksgiving in the US – that he was in the process of ironing out any differences with D’Angelo.
“Just spent a really lovely few hours with @adamdangelo,” he wrote on X. “Happy thanks from our families to yours!”
Altman remains where he was nine days ago: on the edge of discovery.
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