OpenAI scandal: why Sam Altman was fired and how attempts were made to reinstate him

On November 17, OpenAI announced the dismissal of chief executive Sam Altman. Some employees left the company in protest, and leading investors were surprised by the unexpected move. While the board is considering its next steps, ForkLog has gathered current information and assembled the full picture of what happened.

The Start of the Dispute

According to the account of OpenAI co-founder and former president Greg Brockman, on the evening of November 16 Altman received an invitation to a Google Meet conference from the company’s chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever.

Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today.

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…

— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023

The next day at noon the CEO joined a call that was attended by almost the entire board. During the discussion, Altman was informed that he was being removed from his post.

A few minutes later, the leadership reached out to Brockman and informed him of his removal from the board as well. After that OpenAI published a press release.

In the statement, it said that the decision was made following an internal review, and Altman “was not always forthright with the board.” The interim CEO was the CTO Mira Murati.

In the wake of the events, Brockman announced his resignation as OpenAI president, followed by the head of the Preparation Department Alexander Madfri and the Director of Research Jakub Pachoki.

After learning today’s news, this is the message I sent to the OpenAI team: https://t.co/NMnG16yFmm pic.twitter.com/8x39P0ejOM

— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023

Reaction and Attempts to Reinstate Altman

Main Operations Director OpenAI Brad Lightcap wrote in a corporate memo that the news of Altman’s dismissal came as a surprise to the entire team.

«We can say with confidence: the board’s decision was not made in response to criminal conduct or tied to finances, business practices, safety or confidentiality. This was a breakdown in communication between Sam and the board».

The company Microsoft, the largest investor and partner of OpenAI, published a statement regarding Altman’s firing. Nadella tried to reassure the community and said the incident would not affect future collaboration between the firms, and affirmed his commitment to Murati and the rest of the project team.

However, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was “in a rage” after the decision and began pressing the board to reconsider Altman’s reinstatement.

According to The Information, in parallel the former CEO began discussing with investors a new AI startup, in which Brockman and some OpenAI staff would join.

On the evening of November 18, The Verge published a piece stating that the current board, in principle, agreed to resign and reinstate Altman and Brockman. A final decision was expected to be made the following evening.

On November 19, the former CEO posted a photo from an OpenAI office on X, where he appeared as a guest with a corresponding badge.

first and last time i ever wear one of these pic.twitter.com/u3iKwyWj0a

— Sam Altman (@sama) November 19, 2023

«First and last time I wear one of these things», — wrote him.

The Final Decision?

According to Bloomberg, if Altman were reinstated, Microsoft would seek a board seat or a role as an observer without a vote.

Sources say OpenAI’s senior leadership, including the interim head Mira Murati, Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon, and Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap, are pressing for the former CEO’s return.

However, despite signs of a favorable outcome for Altman, on the evening of November 19 The Information issued a report stating that co-founder Emmett Shear of the Twitch streaming platform was appointed as the new CEO, as Murati sought to bring back former colleagues.

So, here’s what happened at OpenAI tonight. Mira planned to hire Sam and Greg back. She turned Team Sam over the past couple of days. The idea was to force the board to fire everyone, which they figured the board would not do. The board fell into total silence. They found their own CEO Emmett Shear

— Ashlee Vance (@ashleevance) November 20, 2023

«Mira planned to hire Sam and Greg again. Over the last couple of days she mounted a campaign in support of Altman. The idea was to force the board to fire everyone, something they believed the board would not do. The board fell into total silence. They found their own CEO Emmett Shear», — explained Bloomberg’s Ashlee Vance.

In his view, Microsoft is highly dissatisfied with the outcome, and “in the US there may not be enough cars for that many lawyers who will descend on San Francisco.”

Nadella sought to defuse the tensions with a statement supporting both sides. He wrote on X that he “look[s] forward to meeting Emmett and the new OpenAI team.”

We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett…

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023

Altman and Brockman, together with colleagues, would join Microsoft within a new AI research group, the company’s CEO added.

Now they will have to use Teams!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2023

«Теперь им придётся использовать Teams», — пошутил Илон Маск.

Altman is still listed as a co-founder and chairman of Tools of Humanity — the main developer of the project Worldcoin. After the firing news, the native token WLD fell from $2.50 to $1.80. At the time of writing, the asset’s price had recovered to around $2.40.

In a recent interview, Altman said that he planned to raise additional funding from Microsoft to create AGI.

Earlier in November, OpenAI held a presentation, where it showcased turbo versions of ChatGPT and introduced a developer assistant.