on Wednesday, OpenAI an agreement for Sam Altman to return as CEO days after his ouster, capping a marathon discussion about the future of the startup at the centre of the artificial intelligence boom.
Altman got fired by the company last week due to the board being worried about his leadership skills. This move caused a stir within the tech community.
Also read: OpenAI investors might take legal action after Sam Altman’s abrupt ouster
The company’s co-founder Greg Brockman also resigned from his position soon after the announcement of Altman’s sacking.
Also read: Who is Sam Altman? Everything about the OpenAI CEO
In addition to Altman’s return, the company agreed in principle to partly reconstitute the board of directors that had dismissed him. Former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor and former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers will join Quora CEO and current director Adam D’Angelo, OpenAI said.
Sam Altman said in a post on X, “I’m looking forward to returning to OpenAI.”
i love openai, and everything i’ve done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together. when i decided to join msft on sun evening, it was clear that was the best path for me and the team. with the new board and w satya’s support, i’m…
— Sam Altman (@sama) November 22, 2023
He’s back after a weekend filled with ups and downs. Altman initially planned to join Microsoft and lead a new research team, but OpenAI’s board rejected his first attempt to return as CEO on Sunday. Instead, they appointed former Twitch leader Emmett Shear as the interim CEO.
In a post on X, Shear celebrated the late-night outcome Tuesday, which he said followed “~72 very intense hours of work.”
Altman’s removal introduced a sense of uncertainty for both OpenAI and Microsoft. In response to the situation, both companies acted swiftly over the weekend to mitigate the impact. They reassured their commitment by expressing intentions to bring Altman and Greg Brockman, the startup’s president, on board.
Brockman, who had quit after Altman was ousted, said in a post on X that he was “getting back to coding tonight.”
On Monday, almost every one of OpenAI’s 700-plus employees issued a collective ultimatum, stating that they would resign unless the board resigned and reinstated Altman and Brockman. This information is based on a letter that Reuters had the
In a statement on X, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella welcomed the changes to OpenAI’s board.
“We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance,” he said.
