Executive Sam Altman will return to his role as CEO of OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. The professional, who is one of the company’s founders, was fired last Friday (17) after some internal differences within the company.
In turn, executive Greg Brockman, who had resigned as chairman of the company’s board in solidarity with Altman, was also rehired by OpenAI. It is worth remembering that OpenAI employees threatened to leave the company if Sam did not return.
In a letter, OpenAI employees stated that there was “bad faith” on the part of OpenAI’s board in Altman’s dismissal. Ilya Sutskever, advisor and co-founder of OpenAI, and the person responsible for Sam’s dismissal, apologized and said he will reunify the company.
After his dismissal, Microsoft, which is one of OpenAI’s main investors, hired Altman on Sunday (19) to lead an artificial intelligence team. Upon his return, Sam said he wants to strengthen the partnership with Bill Gates’ company.
OpenAI employees threaten to leave company and go to Microsoft if board does not resign
More than 730 OpenAI employees, about 95% of the company’s staff, have signed a letter threatening to resign if the board does not resign and reinstate Sam Altman as CEO, as well as former president Greg Brockman. Top executive Altman was fired on Friday.
In the document, they state that the dismissal harms the functioning of work, as well as the company’s mission. The signatories of the letter blame Ilya Sutskever, the company’s chief scientist and member of its board of directors, who was accused of coordinating the action against Altman.
Mira Murati, chief technology officer at OpenAI, has been named interim CEO. The company later chose to remove Murati and appoint another interim CEO, Emmett Shear, former CEO of Twitch, the video game streaming site.
The reaction was negative among investors, such as Microsoft, whose CEO, Satya Nadella, has already announced that Altman and Brockman will join the team to head a new advanced AI research unit. He also encouraged that OpenAI employees are welcome.
In the letter, the OpenAI team threatens to join Altman at Microsoft. “Microsoft has assured us that there are openings for all OpenAI employees at this new subsidiary, should we decide to join,” they write.
In addition to calling for the resignation of the current board, comprised of Ilya Sutskever, Adam D’Angelo, Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley, the letter requests that two new independent lead board members, Bret Taylor and Will Hurd, be appointed. Taylor is a technology industry veteran with close ties to Altman; Hurd is a politician who previously served on the board of OpenAI.
Emmeth Shear is the new CEO of OpenAI, after the resignation of Sam Altman
Twitch co-founder Emmeth Shear was named interim CEO of OpenAI after the resignation of Sam Altman, who held the position until Friday, where he was removed after a meeting with the board that manages the company. Gene Brockman, president, also left OpenAI in this wave.
The surprising change in leadership at OpenAI accentuates divisions within the company. Just hours after Shear’s announcement, Altman was revealed as one of Microsoft’s recent hires — which invested billions in OpenAI — where he will lead an artificial intelligence research team alongside Brockman.
Shear is the second interim appointment in just three days, after the board initially replaced Altman with chief technology officer Mira Murati. Over the weekend, rumors suggested that investors were pressuring OpenAI for Altman’s return.