OpenAI, the parent company of the viral chatbot ChatGPT, fired its CEO and founder, Sam Altman. The sudden departure sent shockwaves through the artificial intelligence (AI) industry and tech community.
The company said in a statement on Friday that an internal investigation found that Altman was not always truthful with the board.
“Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities,” the company said. “The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”
The company statement said: “We are grateful for Sam’s many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI. At the same time, we believe new leadership is necessary as we move forward.”
Confirming the news, Sam Altman said in a post on X (formerly Twitter): “I loved my time at OpenAI.” He described his time at the company as “transformative”. In a follow-up post, he described the experience of his firing as “sorta like reading your own eulogy while you’re still alive.”
i loved my time at openai. it was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. most of all i loved working with such talented people.
— Sam Altman (@sama) November 17, 2023
will have more to say about what’s next later.
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OpenAI President quits after Altman’s ousting
The company also said that OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman was to leave his role as chairman of the board and report to the CEO but he resigned hours later.
After learning the news, Borckman said in a social media post: “I’m super proud of what we’ve all built together since starting in my apartment 8 years ago,” and added that he decided to quit “based on today’s news”.
Later, in another post on X, Brockman said he and Altman were both notified of their removal from the board on Friday by OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who is also a board member. “Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today,” Brockman wrote.
Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today.
— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023
Let us first say thank you to all the incredible people who we have worked with at OpenAI, our customers, our investors, and all of those who have been reaching out.
We too are still trying to figure out exactly…
Brockman became a founding executive of OpenAI in 2015, along with Elon Musk and Sam Altman, after leaving payment platform Stripe.
Who is Mira Murati – OpenAI’s new interim CEO?
After the abrupt ousting of Sam Altman, the company’s co-founder and chief executive, OpenAI’s chief technology officer Mira Murati is stepping into the role as interim chief executive of OpenAI.
Murati, 34, has worked behind the scenes for years at OpenAI, overseeing the development and delivery of revolutionary products such as ChatGPT and DALL-E. The company said that Murati had a “unique skill set” and already “leads the company’s research, product, and safety functions.” The OpenAI board believes that Mira is exceptionally qualified to step into the role of interim CEO as the company conducts a formal search for a permanent CEO.
OpenAI’s board of directors consists of OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, independent directors Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology’s Helen Toner.
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