In a dramatic weekend at OpenAI, investors and some employees made a last-ditch effort to persuade the board to reinstate former Y Combinator president Sam Altman after his sudden dismissal on Friday. According to a report by The Information, Altman will not be returning as CEO. An internal memo from Ilya Sutskever, a board director and co-founder of OpenAI, confirmed that Altman has decided to step away from negotiations for the time being. As OpenAI searches for a new permanent CEO, Emmett Shear, the co-founder of Twitch, has been appointed as the interim CEO, taking over from Mira Murati, who served just two days in the role.
The board recognized Shear’s understanding of the existential risks posed by AI and valued his experience managing large engineering teams at Twitch. Murati, who was advocating for Altman’s return, may have been a factor in her quick replacement as the board continues to evaluate potential successors. We have reached out to OpenAI for comment and will update this article if we receive a response.
This recent turn of events adds to the instability facing OpenAI's board, which is under pressure to pivot after Altman's abrupt removal, conducted with minimal consultation from major stakeholders. Reports indicate that the board’s decision to dismiss Altman — along with the demotion of co-founder Greg Brockman, who subsequently resigned as board chair — sparked outrage from Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, a crucial backer of OpenAI. Nadella had been mediating between the board and Altman and assured his support for Altman regardless of the outcome. Major investors, including Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, and Thrive Capital, joined forces with Microsoft to push for Altman and Brockman’s reinstatement, even exploring potential legal action against the board.
In the wake of this upheaval, several senior OpenAI researchers resigned, following Brockman’s departure. This included research director Jakub Pachocki and head of preparedness Aleksander Madry. Others within the organization expressed a willingness to leave if both Altman and Brockman were not reinstated.
The catalyst for this turmoil appears to be a philosophical clash within the organization. During a company-wide meeting, Sutskever expressed that Altman's removal was crucial to safeguarding OpenAI's mission of "ensuring AI benefits humanity," implying that Altman's aggressive commercial goals were unsettling the board's leadership. Reports suggest Sutskever was particularly incensed by announcements made at OpenAI’s inaugural developer conference, DevDay, which included autonomous custom GPTs.
Allegedly, Altman demanded significant managerial reforms at OpenAI, including a new board of directors, asserting it was "ridiculous" that major shareholders had no influence over the organization's governance. Among the candidates reportedly considered for the new board was Bret Taylor, co-CEO of Salesforce, alongside a member aligned with Microsoft.
Bloomberg's Emily Chang has reported that Microsoft is dissatisfied with the latest developments, a sentiment echoed by the broader OpenAI employee base. Instability at OpenAI caused Microsoft shares to drop by 1.7% on Friday, erasing nearly $47 billion in market value, and led to numerous staff announcing their resignation late Sunday night.
With tensions high, the future at OpenAI remains uncertain as they navigate the fallout from this unprecedented situation.
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