OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman will return as boss just days after he was fired by the board, the firm has said.
The tentative agreement involves bringing in new board members, according to the tech company. Sam Altman’s unexpected dismissal on Friday shocked industry observers, prompting staff to threaten mass resignations unless he was reinstated.
Expressing his anticipation for a return to OpenAI in a post on X (formerly Twitter), Altman stated, “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.”
The board’s decision to remove Altman last week resulted in co-founder Greg Brockman’s resignation, plunging the prominent artificial intelligence (AI) company into chaos. The move was initiated by three non-employee board members—Adam D’Angelo, Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner—along with a third co-founder and the firm’s chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever.
However, on Monday, Sutskever apologized to X and endorsed the staff letter urging the board to reconsider. Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor and user of its technology in various products, then offered Altman a position to lead a “new advanced AI research team” at the tech giant.
On Wednesday, OpenAI announced the tentative agreement for Altman’s return and a partial restructuring of the board that had dismissed him. Former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor and former US treasury secretary Larry Summers are set to join current director Adam D’Angelo, as stated by OpenAI.
In a post on X, Brockman also confirmed his return to the firm. Emmett Shear, OpenAI’s interim chief executive, expressed deep satisfaction with Altman’s return after “72 very intense hours of work.”
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella welcomed the changes to the OpenAI board, calling them a “first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”
Many staff members shared their enthusiasm online, with one employee, Cory Decareaux, stating on LinkedIn, “We’re back – and we’ll be better than ever.”
However, some see the incident as damaging to OpenAI’s reputation, with potential implications for investors and recruitment. Nick Patience of S&P Global Market Intelligence told the BBC, “OpenAI can’t be the same company it was up until Friday night. That has implications not only for potential investors but also for recruitment.”
Despite the challenges, some projects, like Be My Eyes, remain committed to OpenAI for its prioritization of accessibility, even though it may not have significant revenue implications for the company.
The struggle started earlier as the board members fired Mr Altman and said that they had “no confidence” in him as a leader.
His “truthfulness” was in doubt, and despite having gone through so many bends and turns since Friday, no one could tell what they were referring to.
Regardless of the reason, there is no doubt that OpenAI’s staff was disappointed more than 700 of whom wrote a letter with an ultimatum to resign or they will quit.
It was noted in a letter that Microsft had told them that if they wanted to leave and join the firm, they could have new jobs for everybody and later, the firm would give them the same pay that is offered at the moment.
Mr Altman’s dramatic return seems to put an end to that threat.
However, the disruption in the last couple of days has brought up questions as to why could the decision made by four individuals affect a Fortune 500 technology firm.
This stems partly due to the model’s unique architecture and mission.
In 2015, it started off as a non-profit with the aim of developing “safe artificial general intelligence for the benefit of all”. It did not have shareholder welfare or revenue maximization as its goals.
in 2019, it created a for-profit subsidiary, but its objective stayed the same and the board of the nonprofit continued to hold power over it.
Although it is unclear whether the crisis may have been caused by tensions over OpenAi’s future, it is notable that Mr. Altman reportedly did not make any promises for his recall.
However, several observers have requested more clarification, with Tesla president Elon Musk requesting the directors to “say something”.But that has yet to happen. Reacting on X to the news of the reinstatement and new board, Ms Toner said no more than “And now, we all get some sleep”
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