Sam Altman was reinstated as chief executive of OpenAI late Tuesday, successfully reversing his ouster by the company’s board last week after a campaign by his allies, employees and investors, it said. the company.
The board would be remade without several members who had opposed Mr. Altman.
“We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of directors consisting of Bret Taylor (Chairman), Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo,” OpenAI said in a statement. post to, formerly known as Twitter. “We are working together to iron out the details. Thank you very much for your patience through this.
Mr. Altman’s return and potential board overhaul capped five frenetic days that have upended OpenAI, the maker of the ChatGPT chatbot and one of the world’s most high-profile artificial intelligence companies.
“I love openai, and everything I have done over the past few days has served to hold this team and its mission together,” Mr. Altman said in a statement. post to. “With the new board and the support of w satya, I look forward to returning to openai and building on our strong partnership with msft.”
OpenAI’s board surprised Mr. Altman and the company’s employees Friday afternoon with the news that he was being forced out. Greg Brockman, the company president who co-founded the company with Mr. Altman and others, resigned in protest.
The ouster kicked off efforts by Mr. Altman, 38, his tech industry allies and OpenAI employees to force the company’s board to bring him back. Sunday evening, after a weekend of negotiations, the board announced it would stick to its decision.
But hours later, Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor, said Mr. Altman, Mr. Brockman and others would join the company to start a new advanced artificial intelligence lab.
Nearly all of OpenAI’s more than 700 employees signed a letter telling the board that they would step down and follow Mr. Altman to Microsoft if he was not reinstated, jeopardizing the company’s future. start-up.
Four board members: Ilya Sutskever, founder of OpenAI; Adam D’Angelo, CEO of Quora; Helen Toner, director of strategy at the Center for Security and Emerging Technologies at Georgetown; and Tasha McCauley, an entrepreneur and computer scientist — had initially decided to expel Mr. Altman.
But as the employee revolt grew, Mr. Sutskever suddenly sent a message to X: “I deeply regret my participation in the actions of the board of directors. » He also signed the letter.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
