Sam Altman: Fired as OpenAI CEO, Hired to Lead Microsoft's New AI Team
Here's everything you need to know about Sam Altman's firing from OpenAI.
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Last Friday OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman got fired.
There were rumors that the board would reinstate Sam Altman as CEO, but today Emmett Shear, the co-founder of Twitch, was named the new CEO of OpenAI, and Sam Altman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team.
Here’s how all this happened.
It all started with a text from Ilya Sutskever
OpenAI’s board consisted of six members: Greg Brockman (Chairman & President), Ilya Sutskever (Chief Scientist), Sam Altman (CEO), and other three non-employees.
Greg Brockman shared on Twitter/X part of the events that took place on Friday. Sam Altman got a text from Ilya Sutskever to talk on a Google Meet at noon.
In the meeting, with the whole board present, except for Greg, Ilya told Sam he was being fired.
Greg Brockman only learned about this minutes later in another meeting with Ilya. He also was told that he was being removed from the board. This was around the same time OpenAI officially announced a leadership transition.
This announcement shocked the tech world.
Everyone was asking why the OpenAI board of directors fired its CEO. There were some rumors, but OpenAI didn’t give much detail about Sam Altman’s departure, other than this short paragraph
Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.
and also this statement from the board of directors.
“OpenAI was deliberately structured to advance our mission: to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all humanity. The board remains fully committed to serving this mission. We are grateful for Sam’s many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI. At the same time, we believe new leadership is necessary as we move forward.
Some said that the board’s decision was made in response to things related to financial, business, safety, or security/privacy practices, but later an internal memo said that there was no “malfeasance” behind Sam Altman’s firing but a breakdown in communication between Sam and the board.
OpenAI’s announcement also mentioned the designation of Mira Murati, the company’s CTO, as interim CEO.
Hours later, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella released a statement on Sam Altman’s firing. In the statement Satya mentioned the long-term agreements with OpenAI and that they’re committed to the partnership with OpenAI and to Mira Murati and the team.
That didn’t save OpenAI from the rage of its employees.
Greg Brockman published a tweet saying he quits … and he wasn’t the only one. Three senior OpenAI researchers resigned after Brockman and many employees later threatened to quit unless OpenAI’s board resigned.
Then all the rumors and speculation started during the weekend (some ending up being true).
On Saturday, reports suggested that Sam Altman’s sacking had angered employees who were worried it might affect the upcoming $86 billion share sale (some no longer expected the sale).
During the weekend it was rumored that OpenAI would reinstate Sam Altman as CEO after investors pushed for his return. Then on Sunday, a Bloomberg report revealed that OpenAI leaders, including Mira Murati, were pushing the board to reinstate Sam Altman and also wanted the board removed.
Apparently, the report was accurate because Mira Murati (along with other OpenAI employees) posted a tweet with the following message: “OpenAI is nothing without its people”.
Sam Altman liked those tweets.
Apparently, Mira Murati sided with Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. This fueled speculations about Sam Altman returning to OpenAI.
However, all the rumors ended on Monday.
Emmett Shear, the co-founder of Twitch, was named the new CEO of OpenAI by the board. Emmet shares all the details on this in the tweet below.
So what about Sam Altman and Greg Brockman? Microsoft hired them on Monday to lead a new advanced AI research team.
And a few hours later, Ilya Sutskever tweeted that he regrets his participation in Altman’s firing
Some of this drama has ended here but there are still many questions open about the future of OpenAI. Hopefully, this won’t affect future AI developments.