Sam Altman Returns As OpenAI CEO Less Than A Week After Getting Fired
The reasons for Altman's firing and rehiring, however, remain unclear.
By Tharshini Skovalan — 24 Nov 2023, 11:02 AM
Sam Altman has agreed to return as the CEO of OpenAI
In case you missed it, Sam Altman was terminated as the chief executive officer of the company last week.
Since then, employees at OpenAI have threatened to quit and join Altman, who stated he would be starting an AI subsidiary at Microsoft after his unexpected termination.
Altman's return to the company, comes with an agreement in principle to partially reconstitute the board of directors who had initially terminated him
The chairman of the new board will be Bret Taylor, the former co-CEO of Salesforce.
In the new board of director list, we can expect former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers to join Quora CEO and existing director, Adam D'Angelo.Altman, along with OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, planned to join Microsoft to lead a new AI research division after their removal from the company
“Know that if needed, you have a role at Microsoft that matches your compensation and advances our collective mission,” said Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott via X.
Theoretically, Altman is going to lead OpenAI with a board that is more aligned with his vision
Talking to X, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella expressed, "We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board. We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”
Altman remains concerned about the risks of AI
He has also promised and ensured that he would steer OpenAI responsibly. Previously, reports showed that Altman wanted to accelerate AI's development by commercialising products, while board members favoured moving more slowly to mitigate AI's potential risks.
