OpenAI’s board of directors fired Sam Altman from his position of CEO earlier last week. Now, OpenAI has backtracked on its decision and has once again hired Sam Altman as the CEO of the company. Moreover, a new company board has been formed and it seems like Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, also played a major role in Altman’s rehiring.
OpenAI posted on X that it has reached an agreement for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo. Aside from D’Angelo, it seems like the rest of the three members who were a part of the previous company board have stepped down from their positions.
In a separate post on X, Sam Altman said, “with the new board and w satya’s support, i’m looking forward to returning to openai, and building on our strong partnership with msft”. He also talked about how he thought that joining Microsoft seemed like the best decision for him and the team when he did so back on Sunday, November 19. Further, Greg Brockman, who also quit from his role of president at OpenAI to support Altman, is now also returning to OpenAI according to his post on X.
Earlier yesterday, Emmet Shear who was appointed as the CEO of OpenAI post Altman’s exit, reportedly threatened to leave the company unless the board could show evidence of Altman’s wrongdoing. He also posted on X and said that he is “deeply pleased by this result”.
Then, Nadella also took to X and said, “We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board. We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance. Sam, Greg, and I have talked and agreed they have a key role to play along with the OAI leadership team in ensuring OAI continues to thrive and build on its mission”.
For context, on November 17, OpenAI, the company best known for their AI chatbot ChatGPT, released a statement regarding Altman’s exit from the company. The statement revealed that his exit was the result of a thorough review process conducted by the board, who concluded that he had been less than forthcoming in his communication with them, ultimately hindering their ability to carry out their responsibilities. As a result, the board no longer had confidence in Altman’s ability to lead OpenAI.
Two days later, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Sam Altman will be leading an ‘Advanced AI research’ team within Microsoft. However, the employees at OpenAI disapproved of the board’s decision and threatened the company of mass resignations if Altman didn’t return to the company.