- Sam Altman, the recently ousted CEO of OpenAI, arrived Sunday as a guest at the headquarters of the company he founded.
- Altman posted a photo of himself wearing an OpenAI visitor badge on X, formerly Twitter, and wrote: “First and last time I’ll wear one of these.”
- Media reports speculate that Altman is considering returning to the company alongside OpenAI President Greg Brockman, who resigned on Friday following news of Altman’s departure.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attends the “Charting the Path Forward: The Future of Artificial Intelligence” event at Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Week in San Francisco, California on November 16, 2023.
Andrew Caballero Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
Sam Altman, the recently ousted CEO of OpenAI, arrived Sunday as a guest at the headquarters of the company he founded.
Altman posted a photo of himself on
OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon also posted a photo of Sam wearing the badge. Altman’s appearance at OpenAI headquarters followed news that the company’s investors were pushing to reinstate him as CEO a day after he was removed by the board, according to people familiar with the matter.
Over the past 24 hours, a large group of OpenAI employees, including executives, have also expressed their support for Altman on social media by sharing their hearts in response to one of his posts. Microsoft, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global and venture capital firm Thrive Capital are part of efforts to reinstate Altman or have been in discussions with him, sources familiar told CNBC.
On Saturday morning, OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap wrote in a memo to employees obtained by CNBC that the board’s announcement caught everyone by surprise.
“We have had multiple discussions with the board to better understand the reasons and process behind their decision,” Lightcap wrote. “These discussions and options regarding our future course of action continue this morning.”
Those discussions have now led to media reports that Altman may return to the company alongside OpenAI President Greg Brockman, who resigned on Friday following news of Altman’s departure.
— CNBC’s Rohan Goswami and Jordan Novet contributed reporting.