In a surprising move late on Friday, the board of the company behind ChatGPT, OpenAI, announced the termination of CEO Sam Altman. This decision sent shock waves throughout the US tech industry.
The board has named Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati as the interim CEO to fill Altman’s position.
The sudden management shuffle caught many employees off guard, with the news breaking through an internal announcement and the company’s public blog.
According to OpenAI’s blog post, Altman’s departure came after a thorough review process by the board. The conclusion was that Altman was not consistently transparent in his communications with the board, impeding its ability to fulfill its responsibilities. However, the blog post did not provide further details on this matter.
Greg Brockman, OpenAI president and co-founder, who had stepped down from the board as chairman in the management reshuffle, announced his resignation from the company on the messaging platform X late on Friday. “Based on today’s news, I quit,” he wrote.
Fueled by substantial funding from Microsoft, OpenAI sparked the generative AI trend in November with the release of ChatGPT, swiftly becoming one of the world’s fastest-growing software applications.
Generative AI, trained on extensive datasets, has the ability to produce entirely new, human-like content. This technology assists users in generating term papers, completing science homework, and even composing entire novels. Following ChatGPT’s launch, regulators globally rushed to address the evolving landscape: the European Union revised its AI Act, and the U.S. initiated efforts for AI regulation.
Sam Altman, the former head of Y Combinator, a serial entrepreneur, and investor, served as the face of OpenAI and the immensely popular generative AI technology. Throughout the year, Altman toured the world, showcasing the innovative technology.
Following the publication of OpenAI’s blog post, Altman took to the messaging platform X, stating, “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. Will have more to say about what’s next later.”
Altman did not respond to requests for comment, and OpenAI was not available for additional comments.
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.
Mira Murati, who previously worked at Tesla, joined OpenAI in 2018 and later assumed the role of the company’s chief technology officer. She played a key role in overseeing product launches, including ChatGPT.
Following the announcement, Murati addressed employees at an emergency all-hands meeting on Friday afternoon, aiming to reassure them. According to a source familiar with the matter, Murati emphasized that OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft remains stable. Executives from Microsoft, including CEO Satya Nadella, continue to express confidence in the startup.
Details of the meeting were previously reported by The Information.
A spokesperson for Microsoft stated on Friday, “Microsoft remains committed to Mira and their team as we bring this next era of AI to our customers.”
In a statement on Microsoft’s website, Satya Nadella added, “We have a long-term agreement with OpenAI … Together, we will continue to deliver the meaningful benefits of this technology to the world.”
