It is not the first time board members of a firm have taken down a CEO, after all, Steve Jobs is an excellent example of the same. Although no one anticipated the twists and turns of events happening at OpenAI, the American startup that launched the AI bot ChatGPT.
Recently, OpenAI sacked founder and CEO Sam Altman abruptly causing havoc in the tech world. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg as more drama unfolds after Sam Altman’s exit from OpenAI.
Here is a quick summary of everything happening at OpenAI.
What’s going on with OpenAI
OpenAI board members fire Sam Altman
The meltdown started on November 17, when OpenAI’s board of directors announced that Sam Altman would no longer serve as CEO at the firm. According to the board members, Sam had not been “candid in his communications with the board”.
It was also stated that CTO Mira Murati would take over OpenAI on an interim basis. Surprisingly, Emmet Shear soon took over the CEO position replacing Mira.
Everyone including key investors, Microsoft and even Altman himself was shocked about the whole incident. Moreover, OpenAI’s co-founder Greg Brockman revealed on X(formerly Twitter) that he was removed from the board and had to report to the new CEO.
Greg also stated Sam was fired on a Google Meet call without a proper warning.
The same day, OpenAI published a blog to confirm the departure of Sam Altman saying the board “no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”
Sam Altman rumoured to rejoin OpenAI
On 19th November, Sam posted a cryptic post on X saying “I love the OpenAI team so much” one day after he was sacked. This again stirred up speculations of Sam returning to the AI research firm with a Steve Job-like comeback.
However, the rumours did not last long as Emmett Shear was appointed as the new CEO.
Microsoft hires Sam Altman and Greg Brockman
On Monday, 20th November, Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella posted on X to confirm their partnership with OpenAI and welcomed Emmett Shear, the new CEO. According to reports, Nadella was not aware of the board’s decision to take down Sam.
When asked about the reason for firing Altman in an interview, Satya said “I’ve not been directly told by anyone from their board about any issues and so therefore, I remain confident in Sam and his leadership and capability and that’s why you know, we want to welcome him to Microsoft.”
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OpenAI employees threaten to resign
Adding more fire to the fuel, on Monday OpenAI employees demanded the board to step down and reinstate Sam Altman.
Writing an open letter signed by 700 of 770 staff at OpenAI that stated “Nearly all of OpenAI’s employees have threatened to quit and follow ousted leader Sam Altman to work at the company’s biggest investor, Microsoft Corp, unless the current board resigns.”
This letter has the signatures of its co-founder and board members Ilya Sutskever, Mira Murati and Brad Lightcap.
Sam Altman’s message of unity and commitment
Today Sam shared a series of posts on X stating “We are committed to fully providing continuity of operations to our partners and customers. The OpenAI/Microsoft partnership makes this very doable. We have more unity, commitment and focus than ever before. We are all going to work together in some way or another, and I’m so excited. One team, one mission,” he added.
In the whirlwind of OpenAI’s saga, one thing remains clear—change is the only constant. As the dust settles, the future unfolds. Stay tuned for more updates on this unfolding tech drama.
