It’s getting difficult to keep up, but the latest twist in the drama surrounding why Sam Altman was fired now sees the former CEO poised for a stunning return to the OpenAI throne today.
An agreement has apparently been reached “in principle” that will see Sam Altman officially back at OpenAI and a new board put in place at the company, following last week’s ouster of the ChatGPT boss.
Altman seems to have confirmed the information via one of his social media accounts, saying he is “looking forward to returning” to the company he loves.
Altman Back at OpenAI, Board Rebels Now Out
Writing on X (formerly Twitter), Altman reflected on a whirlwind few days that saw him fired, rumored to return to OpenAI, definitely out at the company, and finally joining Microsoft to lead a new AI team there working on products like Copilot.
All before markets reopened on Monday.
However, now Altman is back as OpenAI CEO in a final plot twist to one of the most dramatic sagas in Silicon Valley history.
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
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OpenAI appeared to confirm the news on its X account, announcing an initial new-look board led by former Salesforce CEO Bret Taylor.
We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo.
We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this.
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) November 22, 2023
Altman’s return to OpenAI necessitates a massive overhaul of the company’s board because four of its members were revealed to be responsible for last week’s coup.
These are Adam D’Angelo, Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner – all non-OpenAI employees – as well as co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever.
In a major U-turn, Sutskever has now joined the ranks of the hundreds of OpenAI employees demanding Altman’s return, penning an open apology on X.
I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we've built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company.
— Ilya Sutskever (@ilyasut) November 20, 2023
Sam Altman’s Firing Reveals OpenAI Tensions
The drama started late last week when Altman was shocking deposed as OpenAI CEO following disagreements with the company’s board.
At the time, they said that Altman was being relieved of his duties for failure to be “…consistently candid in his communications with the board.”
In actual fact, Altman’s firing was heavily rumored to be the result of tensions at the heart of OpenAI between the company’s product and research arms over the rapid pace of its developments.
Reinstated Altman is OpenAI’s Third CEO in Days
Over the weekend, an OpenAI rebellion brewed as co-founder Greg Brockman tendered his resignation and more than 500 more employees threatened to follow suit.
This led to initial talk of Altman being rapidly reinstated, though this was apparently quashed, and Microsoft – one of OpenAI’s biggest investors – swooped to ink the ChatGPT mastermind to his own roster.
In between, the company has two interim CEOs in Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, and former Twitch CEO and Justin.tv founder Emmett Shear. Spare a thought for the latter, who spoke of the OpenAI helm as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity.
