In a sudden move, Altman is leaving after the company’s board determined that he ‘was not consistently candid in his communications.’ President and co-founder Greg Brockman has also quit.
Update November 18th: According to multiple sources, OpenAI’s board is currently in talks with Sam Altman about his potential return, following his recent firing. The company made an announcement on Friday, stating that Altman was no longer the CEO. The board concluded that Altman was not consistently candid in his communications, which hindered the board’s ability to carry out its responsibilities. As a result, the board lost confidence in Altman’s ability to lead OpenAI.
OpenAI’s co-founder and CEO, Sam Altman, has been fired from his position, according to an announcement made by the company. Mira Murati, the chief technology officer, has been appointed as the interim CEO with immediate effect. OpenAI has also disclosed that it will begin a search for a permanent CEO to take over from Altman. When contacted by The Verge, OpenAI’s communications department declined to comment beyond the blog post. Multiple sources have revealed that the news came as a surprise to many of the employees at OpenAI who found out about it when it was announced publicly.
Altman, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), expressed his affection for OpenAI and described his time there as transformative, both personally and for the world. In another post, he likened the experience of his firing to reading his own eulogy while still alive.
OpenAI’s announcement further stated that Greg Brockman, the co-founder and president, will be stepping down as chairman of the board but will continue to remain at the company. However, in a post on X, Brockman has stated that he has quit the company based on the news of Altman’s firing.
Link of Post (Sam Altman@sama): Check here
After so many incidents I found this post on Chatgpt blog
Chief technology officer Mira Murati appointed interim CEO to lead OpenAI; Sam Altman departs the company.
Search process underway to identify permanent successor.
The board of directors of OpenAI, Inc., the 501(c)(3) that acts as the overall governing body for all OpenAI activities, today announced that Sam Altman will depart as CEO and leave the board of directors. Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, will serve as interim CEO, effective immediately.
A member of OpenAI’s leadership team for five years, Mira has played a critical role in OpenAI’s evolution into a global AI leader. She brings a unique skill set, understanding of the company’s values, operations, and business, and already leads the company’s research, product, and safety functions. Given her long tenure and close engagement with all aspects of the company, including her experience in AI governance and policy, the board believes she is uniquely qualified for the role and anticipates a seamless transition while it conducts a formal search for a permanent CEO.
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.
In a statement, the board of directors said: “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. As the leader of the company’s research, product, and safety functions, Mira is exceptionally qualified to step into the role of interim CEO. We have the utmost confidence in her ability to lead OpenAI during this transition period.”
OpenAI’s board of directors consists of OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, independent directors Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology’s Helen Toner.
As a part of this transition, Greg Brockman will be stepping down as chairman of the board and will remain in his role at the company, reporting to the CEO.
OpenAI was founded as a non-profit in 2015 with the core mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. In 2019, OpenAI restructured to ensure that the company could raise capital in pursuit of this mission, while preserving the nonprofit’s mission, governance, and oversight. The majority of the board is independent, and the independent directors do not hold equity in OpenAI. While the company has experienced dramatic growth, it remains the fundamental governance responsibility of the board to advance OpenAI’s mission and preserve the principles of its Charter.
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Brockman later mentioned in another post on X that he and Altman received notification of their removal from the board on Friday. The notification was sent by OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who also serves as a board member. “Sam and I are both taken aback and disheartened by the board’s decision today,” Brockman wrote.
The sudden departure of Sam Altman from OpenAI has taken many by surprise. Altman had been the face of OpenAI, which became popular with the release of ChatGPT last year and recently announced new updates to compete with other tech giants. Microsoft, which has invested billions in OpenAI, has confirmed that it will continue to partner with the company despite Altman’s departure.
Altman had reportedly discussed making the “iPhone of artificial intelligence” with Jony Ive, Apple’s former chief design officer, and is also the biggest shareholder in Humane, which recently launched orders for its Humane AI Pin. Altman is a co-founder of OpenAI and served as a co-chair of the company alongside Elon Musk until Musk’s departure in 2018.
Unlike traditional company boards, OpenAI’s board is mostly made up of outsiders. Following Altman and Brockman’s departures, the remaining board members are the company’s chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, Tasha McCauley, the former CEO of GeoSim Systems, and Helen Toner, the director of strategy at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology.
