As recently as yesterday we were, as they say, easy prophets. In an article we listed the OpenAI affair among the tech-inspired catchphrases that have characterized these last few months. Together, for example, with the hypothetical mixed martial arts match that should have been held in the summer between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
In the past few hours, yet another piece of news has arrived linked to the company that produced ChatGPT: Sam Altman, CEO removed from the board on Friday 17 November, has been reinstated in his original role.
Let’s see what is transpiring about these latest developments, and then take stock of the situation on what happened from Friday the 17th to today.
Sam Altman returns to lead OpenAI
Much ado about nothing: Sam Altman has returned to the role of CEO of OpenAI.
The company itself announced it. Read for example a post (what was once a tweet) published on Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo.
We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this.”
That is: “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board consisting of Bret Taylor (president), Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo. We are working together to finalize the details. Thank you so much for your patience during this process.”
The new board of directors
So far nothing else is known except that Sam Altman is once again the head of OpenAI. And that the board of directors has been renewed, just as (we will see) the employees had requested.
At the very least, the names and careers of the leaders of the new board are known. Chairman Bret Taylor is the former CEO of Salesforce, Larry Summers is the former US Treasury Secretary, while Adam D’Angelo is the only one who comes from OpenAI’s previous board of directors.
The (brief) firing of Sam Altman
Let’s rewind the tape, giving an account of a few days truly full of twists and turns.
Unexpectedly, on Friday 17 November the OpenAI board of directors kicked out Sam Altman, making the news public on the official blog. Where, in a note, we can read that Altman “has not been consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering his ability to carry out his responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue to lead OpenAI.”
Although several sources report that the real reason for the friction was a difference in pace. Because Altman would have liked to push the development of AI systems more quickly, while the board of directors was on more cautious positions.
From there, the election of Mira Murati, Chief Technology Officer, as interim CEO. And increasingly insistent news that the company’s new CEO would be Emmet Shear, founder of Twitch, who left the company at the beginning of the year.
Sam Altman a Microsoft
In the meantime, while some were rumors of negotiations for the sudden return of Sam Altman as head of OpenAI, the CEO of Microsoft, Nadya Satella announced Altman’s move to her company.
Satella wrote a long post on X, in which he confirmed the continuation of the partnership with OpenAI. He added: “We are extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, along with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced artificial intelligence research team.”
The letter from OpenAI employees
When the game seemed to be over, here is the vitriolic letter from 505 OpenAI employees out of 700. Who, no more and no less, asked for the reinstatement of Sam Altman and the resignation of the board of directors.
“The process by which you fired Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman from the board of directors has jeopardized all of our work, undermined our mission and our company. The board’s conduct highlighted the fact that it does not have the expertise to oversee OpenAI.”
Complete with a threat to move en masse to Satella’s company: “Microsoft has guaranteed us that there are open positions for all AI employees in this new subsidiary in case we want to accept.”
Letter that evidently had its immediate effect: Sam Altman returned to the position of CEO of OpenAI, and the board of directors was renewed.
Waiting for the next turnaround?