The last few days have been frantic within OpenAI. Suddenly, during a board meeting on Friday, OpenAI decided to fire two of the company’s senior executives, Greg Brockman and Sam Altman, then CEO. Over the weekend, the technology director took her place temporarily, but this Monday Emmeth Shear, co-founder of Twitch, was chosen as interim CEO.
In parallel, Microsoft announced that Altman was hired by big tech to lead the artificial intelligence research sector, alongside Brockman. The hiring was confirmed by Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, on his official account on X (formerly Twitter). It is worth remembering that the company invested billions of dollars in OpenAI, owner of ChatGPT, and rumors indicated that it was pressuring the company’s board to reposition Altman as CEO.
“We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and are confident in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announce at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners,” says Nadella. “We look forward to meeting Emmett Shear and the new OAI leadership team and working with them. And we are extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, along with colleagues, will join Microsoft to lead a new team of advanced research in AI. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources they need to succeed.”
In parallel, in addition to Shear, the website Seeking Alpha pointed out that the OpenAI board interviewed three big names for the position, with Microsoft’s approval: Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Meta; Brian Chesky, former CEO of Airbnb; and Bret Taylor, former co-CEO of Salesforce.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI fired on Friday, may return after pressure from investors
Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, two senior executives at OpenAI, with Altman being the company’s CEO, left the startup after a tumultuous meeting last Friday, but there are already rumors that they are in talks again with board members about returning home. .
The debate arose after a negative reaction to Altman’s departure from Altman’s investors and supporters, who pressured the startup’s board members to bring him back. Six sources confirmed this information to The New York Times on condition of anonymity.
Microsoft, which invested US$13 billion in OpenAI, would be among the leaders of this campaign for Altman’s return. OpenAI investors who expressed support for Altman’s return were also willing to invest if he decided to start a new company, something that began to be discussed almost immediately after his forced departure, people familiar with the situation said.
There is no guarantee that either will return to OpenAI, as the company is controlled by a non-profit organization, with the board having the power to govern the activities of the subsidiary where its AI work takes place. Therefore, investors may not have official influence over what happens to the startup or who leads it.
The San Francisco startup rose to prominence last year when it launched the ChatGPT chatbot and showcased the power of artificial intelligence. Altman, one of the founders of OpenAI, quickly became the face of the AI industry as giants like Google, Meta and others rushed to lead the technology.
On Friday, OpenAI abruptly announced that its board had removed Altman as CEO, stating that “he has not been consistently forthright in his communications with the board.” The council did not provide further details.
Reports indicate that Altman was invited to a video meeting with the board and was immediately fired, according to Brockman. The latter stated that, although he was the president of the company’s council, he did not participate in the meeting and later announced his departure from the company.