Sam Altman is returning as OpenAI’s CEO, ending a days-long energy battle that began with his firing late Friday afternoon. The AI developer behind ChatGPT additionally has a brand new board, together with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor.
“We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo,” OpenAI wrote on X early Wednesday morning.
D’Angelo, the CEO of Quora, is the one returning member of OpenAI’s former board, which made the decision to dismiss Altman earlier than the weekend.
OpenAI’s newest interim CEO, Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear, wrote on X that he was “deeply pleased” by Altman’s return. “This was the pathway that maximized safety alongside doing right by all stakeholders involved,” he stated.
OpenAI’s now-former board fired Altman as CEO on Friday, alleging that he was not “consistently candid” with the board. OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman give up in response, saying the board didn’t contain him within the determination. Late Sunday, Microsoft, which has pledged to take a position $13 billion in OpenAI, announced that Altman and Brockman would lead a brand new in-house AI analysis workforce.
On Monday, 700 OpenAI workers threatened to quit if the board didn’t reinstate Altman. Board member Ilya Sustkever—reportedly a key participant within the determination to fireside Altman—publicly recanted his determination.
“With the new board and [with Microsoft CEO] Satya [Nadella]’s support, I’m looking forward to returning to OpenAI, and building on our strong partnership with [Microsoft],” Altman posted on X.
