OpenAI reinstates previously fired CEO Sam Altman

OpenAI announced that it is reinstating CEO Sam Altman, whom the board of directors fired last Friday, November 17th. At the same time, serious changes will occur in the board of directors, which made the initial decision to resign Mr. Altman.

“We have reached an agreement in principle that Sam Altman will return to the position of CEO of OpenAI with the original composition of the board of directors, which will include Bret Taylor (Chairman), Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo,” the statement said. message company at X (formerly Twitter).— We are working out the details. Thank you very much for your patience throughout this situation.”

This is the company’s third announcement of a new CEO in five days. Simultaneously with the dismissal of Sam Altman, the appointment of Mira Murati as interim CEO of the company was announced. However, on Monday it became knownthat instead of her, another person will become the new interim CEO – the current head of the Twitch streaming platform, Emmett Shear.

Mr. Altman’s dismissal prompted the departure of OpenAI President Greg Brockman, as well as a number of leading researchers. Microsoft agreed to accept all of them, having managed announce on the creation of a new team for the development of advanced AI – specifically for defectors from OpenAI. Both Microsoft and Thrive Capital, OpenAI’s two main investors, insisted on effectively reversing Sam Altman’s dismissal. Moreover, almost the entire company staff signed open letterthreatening to leave for Microsoft unless Altman and Brockman were reinstated to their positions at OpenAI.

As a result, the new management of OpenAI faced the real problem of the collapse of the company. And after several days of difficult negotiations, the board of directors gave in.

Its new composition will include only one representative of the old board – Mr. D’Angelo, who is the founder of Quora, as well as a member of the OpenAI board of directors since 2018. It was he who was among those who opposed the resignation of Sam Altman. The other two new board members are Bret Taylor, the former CEO of Salesforce, and Larry Summers, US Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton.

“We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board. We believe this is an important first step towards more stable and effective governance— stated Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO “Sam, Greg and I spoke and agreed that they have a key role to play, along with the OpenAI leadership team, in ensuring the company continues to thrive and achieve its mission.”

“I love OpenAI, and everything I’ve done over the past few days has been to preserve this team and its mission,” said Mr. Altman. “When I decided to join Microsoft on Sunday evening, it was clear that it will be better for me and the team. With the new board and Satya’s support, I look forward to returning to OpenAI and building on our strong partnership with Microsoft.”

Kirill Sarkhanyants