Sam Altman has made an impressive return as CEO of OpenAI just five days after being ousted and poached by Microsoft.
The AI company appointed former Twitch boss Emmett Shear as interim boss on Monday, triggering a personnel mutiny that led to “intense discussions” among the bosses.
But on Tuesday evening it was announced that Altman would be returning and a new board consisting of former Twitter chairman Bret Taylor, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and board member Adam D’Angelo, the only one who voted to remove Altman Leftover, will have joined.
The other members who voted for the dismissal, including one of the company’s founders, Illya Sutskever, as well as Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley, are now leaving the company. Interim CEO Emmett Shear is also no longer there.
In addition to Altman, another of the company’s founders returns: Greg Brockman. On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Sutskever was convinced to change his mind about Altman’s future at the company after an intervention from Brockman’s wife, Anna.
OpenAI announced on Wednesday that it had reached a shocking agreement that Sam Altman would return to OpenAI as CEO.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also welcomed the news of Altman’s return in a message on X
“I love OpenAI and everything I’ve done over the last few days has been to keep this team and its mission together,” he said in a post on X early Wednesday morning.
Altman thanked Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella for helping bring about the amazing turnaround.
“When I decided to join [Microsoft] On Sunday evening it was clear that this was the best path for me and the team. With the new board and the support of Satya, I look forward to returning to openai and building on our strong partnership [Microsoft].
In a statement of his own, Nadella acknowledged the board changes that led to Altman returning to OpenAI.
“We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” he wrote. “We believe this is an essential first step towards more stable, better informed and more effective governance.”
Five days of turmoil at OpenAI
Friday: Reports surfaced that Sam Altman was fired, prompting the tech tycoon to
Jakob Pachocki and his co-founder Greg Brockman were apparently surprised by the firing and both quit late Friday evening in protest at the alleged ambush.
Saturday: Executives tried to bring him back, and a leaked memo to staff suggested the company was “optimistic” about his possible return.
Sunday: Reports began circulating that he was willing to return if there was a change in the board and management.
Altman then refuted the rumors by posting a snap of himself using an OpenAI guest pass while visiting his old employer on
Monday: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Altman and OAI co-founder Greg Brockman will join the company to lead a new AI innovation team.
Former Twitch leader Emmett Shear has taken over as interim head of OpenAI.
Tuesday: After days of turmoil, Altman announced on X that he was returning to OpenAI.
The co-founder will join a new board that includes former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor and Adam D’Angelo, the sole holdover from the previous administration.
Days earlier, D’Angelo voted to oust Altman. “I love OpenAI and everything I’ve done over the last few days has been to keep this team and its mission together,” Altman wrote on X.
Upon his return, one of the company’s founders, Illya Sutskever, as well as Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley left the company.
“Sam, Greg and I spoke and agreed that they, along with the OAI leadership team, must play a key role in ensuring OAI continues to thrive and expand its mission.”
“We look forward to building on our strong partnership and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners.”
OpenAI published its own statement on X to confirm the announcement.
“We have reached an agreement in principle that Sam Altman will return to OpenAI as CEO with a new board of directors including Bret Taylor (Chairman), Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo,” they wrote.
“We are working together to figure out the details.” Thank you for your patience.”
As of Monday evening, 747 of the company’s 770 employees had threatened to quit and move to Microsoft if the 38-year-old Altman was not rehired.
An internal memo written by Anna Makanju, vice president of global affairs, and seen by Bloomberg told employees Monday that management was in contact with Altman, new CEP Emmett Shear and the board, “but they are not ready to give us a definitive answer this evening’.
According to a report, Altman was hired as CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI because of concerns that he would disregard the dangers of artificial intelligence.
The concerns, raised by another OpenAI board member, culminated in the 38-year-old’s sudden firing on Friday – sending the tech world into a frenzy and a storm of speculation.
Founded in 2015 by Altman and 10 others, OpenAI launched ChatGPT a year ago — and its ability to mimic human writing has proven polarizing ever since.
In addition to causing concern among the public, this uncertainty was also apparently felt by OpenAI’s six-member board.
Elon Musk founded OpenAI with Sam Altman, the company’s CEO, but in 2018 the billionaire attempted to take control of the startup.
His application was rejected, forcing him to leave OpenAI and continue with his other projects.
Since then, Musk has attacked the company, claiming that AI has “woke” and is deviating from OpenAI’s original charitable mission.
In a statement of his own, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella acknowledged the board changes that led to Altman returning to OpenAI
CEO and co-founder of Quora Adam D’Angelo (pictured left) remains on the board of OpenAI
Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers also joins the OpenAI board
Former Twitter chairman Bret Taylor is another new addition to the OpenAI board
“OpenAI was founded as an open source company (which is why I called it ‘Open’ AI), a non-profit company that was intended to serve as a counterweight to Google, but now it has become a closed source, maximum profit company that “effectively controlled by Microsoft,” Musk tweeted in February.
He even signed a letter calling for people to stop the “dangerous race” to develop AI, which they fear poses a “significant risk to society and humanity” and will have “catastrophic” consequences could.
These concerns arose as many warned that AI could one day lead to a dystopian, machine-controlled landscape, as was the case in James Cameron’s famous Terminator series.
A dramatic statement last May warned of such a reality, declaring that “bad actors” would use the burgeoning technologies to harm others before potentially triggering an apocalypse.
The statement was signed by experts from companies like Google DeepMind and veterans like Google alum Geoffrey Hinton, who resigned over the growing dangers of AI, and was also pushed by Altman — but ultimately disregarded, according to the Times.
According to their report, prominent computer scientist Sutskever, 37, led the charge to have him subsequently withdrawn – and successfully convinced three other board members to do so.
According to the Times, those executives were Adam D’Angelo, CEO of the question-and-answer site Quora; McCauley of Rand Corporation and the Georgetown University Center for Security and Emerging Technology Toner.
Sam Altman, 38, was removed as CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI on Friday over fears he was disregarding the dangers of artificial intelligence, according to a new report
In a series of interviews, insiders described how one of Altman’s co-founders had raised concerns about OpenAI’s emerging technology before the firing. These concerns came as experts warned that AI could lead to a machine-controlled society, as was the case in James Cameron’s Terminator series
McCauley, a scientist at the Santa Monica Think Tank, and Toner, director of strategy and basic research grants at the school, both have ties to movements that have repeatedly expressed the belief that AI could one day destroy humanity.
Soviet-born Sutskever has increasingly embraced those beliefs over the past year, three insiders said, and he has reportedly come to them with his concerns.
The Times said neither Toner nor McCauley responded to requests for comment on the claims on Saturday.
However, both women, along with D’Angelo, voted to oust Altman – to the chagrin of fellow board members Jakob Pachocki and Brockman, who both resigned late Friday night in protest over the alleged ambush.
Founded in 2015 by Altman and 10 others, OpenAI launched ChatGPT a year ago — and its ability to mimic human writing has proven polarizing ever since
In addition to causing public concern, this uncertainty was also apparently felt among OpenAI’s six-member board of directors — particularly one of Altman’s co-founders, Ilya Sutskever, according to a New York Times report
According to the report, Sutskever led the charge against Altman – after successfully convincing fellow board members Tasha McCauley (left) and Helen Toner (right).
Both women have ties to movements that have repeatedly expressed the belief that AI could one day destroy humanity and create a society effectively run by machines
Both women ousted Altman – to the chagrin of fellow board members Jakob Pachocki (left) and Greg Brockman, who both resigned late Friday evening in protest over the alleged ambush
The Times report also sheds some light on the still-unresolved meeting between board members, in which Altman appeared via video hours after appearing publicly on behalf of his company at Thursday’s APEC summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping .
An insider said Sutskever read from a script there that closely resembled a post the now $90 million company wrote following the vote – in which his boss’s sudden firing was due to his lack of transparency with the rest of the Board of Directors was returned.
That blog post, while vague, claimed that Altman “was not consistently open in his communications with the board, which compromised its ability to carry out its responsibilities.”
Neither Sutskever — a student at the University of Toronto who contributed to the breakthrough in AI called neural networks — nor Altman immediately responded to The Times’ requests for comment.
Two insiders who spoke to the newspaper added that in his attempt to get his co-founder out of the company, Sutskever also objected to what he saw as a limited role within the company given its somewhat sudden success.
In a series of tweets late Friday and early Saturday, both Altman and Brockman — another co-founder and now the company’s former president — commented on the fall, with the former speaking somewhat cryptically about it.
He wrote in two separate posts: “I love you all.” [T]Today was a strange experience in many ways. [B]But something unexpected is that it was a bit like reading your own eulogy while you’re still alive.
The firing appeared to catch Altman off guard, who did not elaborate on what might have led to his departure
‘[T]The love he exudes is amazing. One takeaway: tell your friends how great you think they are.”
In the other letter, written a few hours before and shortly after his firing, Altman added: “I enjoyed my time at openai.” [I]It changed me personally and hopefully the world a little. [M]Most of all [I] I loved working with such talented people.
‘[W]I can say more about what comes next later.’
Brockman, meanwhile, said in his own X post that although he was chairman, he did not attend the board meeting where Altman was ousted. He detailed how he and others were as surprised by the maneuver as viewers were when he stepped back to express his distaste.
OpenAI, meanwhile, released ChatGPT last November – and the technology has taken off ever since.
While many remain skeptical – or downright outraged – about the new technology, OpenAI executives remained confident about the future, saying earlier this year that they both “believe in the responsible development and use of these AI systems.”
Brockman, the former president of OpenAi, said in his own post that although he was chairman, he did not attend the meeting where Altman was ousted. He detailed how he and others were as surprised by the maneuver as viewers were when he stepped back to express his distaste
Recently, Microsoft provided OpenAI Global LLC with a $10 billion investment, in addition to another $1 billion the company received in 2019.
Last month, employees tried to sell some of their shares worth $90 billion, up from a stock sale a few months ago that valued them at around $29 billion.
Forrester analyst Rowan Curran speculated that Altman’s departure, although “sudden,” probably did not reflect deeper business issues.
“This appears to be a case of leadership change that was about issues with the individual in question, rather than the underlying technology or business,” Curran said.