OpenAI reaches agreement to reinstate Sam Altman as CEO

The AI company OpenAI has announced the return of Sam Altman as CEO. It has been less than a week since his dismissal.

❤️?❤️ https://t.co/n1x47m5bTZ

— Sam Altman (@sama) November 22, 2023

«We have reached a principled agreement to reinstate Sam Altman as OpenAI’s CEO with a new board of directors», — the company said.

Altman reacted to the post with a heart emoji. He also stated that “I love OpenAI” and in recent days did everything possible to keep the team together.

«When I decided to join Microsoft, it was the best path for me and the team. With the new leadership and the support of [CEO Microsoft] Satya Nadella I look forward to returning to OpenAI and building a strong partnership with Microsoft», wrote he.

i love openai, and everything i’ve done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together. when i decided to join msft on sun evening, it was clear that was the best path for me and the team. with the new board and w satya’s support, i’m…

— Sam Altman (@sama) November 22, 2023

The new board of directors includes:

• former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor (chairman);
• former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers;
• Quora co-founder Adam D’Angelo (was on the previous board).

According to The Verge, the task of the temporary board is to assemble its expanded nine-person version to restart OpenAI’s governance. According to The Washington Post, Altman will not be included in its ranks.

The new board will conduct an independent corporate investigation into the events.

On the night of November 22, users widely reported outages in the operation of ChatGPT, according to data from DownDetector. However, OpenAI did not comment on the situation.

Nadella described the changes to the AI company’s board as “the first important step on the path to more stable and effective governance”.

«We, Sam, and [OpenAI co-founder] Greg Brockman have concluded that they will play a key role in ensuring the further development of OpenAI», added Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board. We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance. Sam, Greg, and I have talked and agreed they have a key role to play along with the OAI leadership team in ensuring… https://t.co/djO6Fuz6t9

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 22, 2023

After Altman’s return, Brockman thanked Nadella, Microsoft chief technology officer Kevin Scott, and the entire company for “unwavering support in a difficult chapter”. He also said the situation would make the AI firm “stronger and more cohesive than ever.”

we are so back pic.twitter.com/YcKwkqdNs5

— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 22, 2023

Billionaire Elon Musk reacted to the news in his own style:

«They’ve blown this out of proportion. A good marketing stunt», said he.

You guys literally did all this for nothing.

Nice marketing stunt

— Elon Musk (Parody) (@ElonMuskAOC) November 22, 2023

The community compared what happened at OpenAI over the past week to the popular TV series “Game of Thrones”.

Don’t know who’s director but enjoying this OpenAI Throne series pic.twitter.com/YZMfW6Zezu

— Dr. Apurv (@MEAInd) November 22, 2023

Against the backdrop of Altman’s return, the Worldcoin token (WLD) rose about 3% in an hour and returned to above $2.50.

17 ноября OpenAI объявила об увольнении Альтмана по результатам внутренней проверки. Крупнейшие инвесторы потребовали восстановить его в должности. На фоне произошедшего компанию покинул сооснователь Грег Брокман.

Напомним, СМИ сообщили о предложении совета директоров OpenAI по слиянию с Anthropic. Глава конкурирующей ИИ-компании Дарио Амодей отклонил его.