End of the soap opera. Sam Altman returns home. Four days after being kicked out of the OpenAi board of directors, Altman returns to the company in his role as CEO. And he also does it as an absolute winner, because with his reinstatement the victory also passes his desire to reform the board of directors.
This was announced on X by the same company that created ChapGPT: “We have reached an agreement in principle for the return of Sam Altman to OpenAI as CEO, with a new initial board of directors".
OpenAI has therefore agreed in principle to reconstitute the board of directors which led to Altman's dismissal.
Bret taylor, former co-CEO of Salesforce, e Larry summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary, will join Adam D'Angelo, CEO of Quora and current director, according to the company.
OpenAi: the risk of employee mutiny weighed heavily
OpenAi had to backtrack after it found itself faced with the risk of mutiny of almost all its employees.
740 employees (95% of the company's total), immediately after the announcement of Altman's move to Microsoft, they published a letter in which they threatened to leave the company if the Board of Directors had not resigned and if Sam Altman and former president Greg Brockman had not been reinstated.
“The process by which you fired Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman from the board of directors has jeopardized all the work we have done and undermined our mission and the company,” the letter reads. Your conduct made it clear that you lacked the expertise to oversee OpenAI.”
He is also among the signatories of the letter Ilya Sutskever, the company's chief scientist and board member, who was accused of coordinating Sam Altman's ouster.
A test of strength, therefore, by a group compared to the managers' decisions.
Altman: “I did everything to keep the team together, I can't wait to come back”
Happy Sam Altman who confirmed the news of his "return home" with a message on X:
“I love OpenAi and everything I have done in the last few days has been to keep this team and its mission together. When I decided to join Microsoft it was clear that it was the best path for me and the team. With Satya's new board and support, I look forward to returning to OpenAi and building on our strong partnership with Microsoft.”
Together with Altman returns to the company also the former president and co-founder Greg Brockman.
Microsoft is also satisfied with the decision
Satisfied with the decision too Microsoft, OpenAi's main investor, who through the company's number one Satya Nadella has welcomed the changes on the board of directors of the start-up.
“We are encouraged by the changes in OpenAI's board. We believe this is an essential first step towards more stable, well-informed and effective governance. Sam, Greg and I talked and agreed that they have a key role to play together with the OpenAI leadership team to ensure the organization continues to thrive and pursue its mission. We can not wait to further develop our strong partnership and to deliver the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners.
What happened between Altman and OpenAI
Sam Altman was surprisingly removed last Friday, with the Board of Directors accusing him of lack of transparency in managing the development of artificial intelligence systems. The decision had sparked a revolt among investors worried about the future.
On Monday, OpenAI had designated the former head of Twitch, Emmett Shear, as interim CEO while Microsoft announced that Altman would take over the helm new division dedicated to artificial intelligence of the giant founded by Bill Gates. Today, finally, the definitive step back.
What is clear from this story is the tight bond that was created between Microsoft and OpenAi.
