Sam Altman, a prominent figure in the field of artificial intelligence, has been ousted from OpenAI, the company he co-founded and which is behind the immensely popular ChatGPT chatbot after the board lost confidence in his leadership.
Altman - the AI crusader
Altman, a co-founder of OpenAI, initially served as a co-chair alongside Elon Musk, who departed in 2018 to avoid conflicts of interest with Tesla and later founded his own AI company, xAI. With financial backing from Musk, Altman helped establish OpenAI in 2015, transforming it into a technology leader with substantial funding from Microsoft.
As a tech entrepreneur, Altman became a spokesperson for the industry's shift towards AI, advocating before US Congress and engaging with lawmakers globally. Many consider AI to be the most significant technological shift in generations, and Altman played a pivotal role in generating mainstream enthusiasm for it. He represented OpenAI, a company that entered rare territory by securing billions of dollars in funding from Microsoft and garnering envy from Silicon Valley giants like Google and Meta, Facebook’s parent company.
Face of OpenAI
Altman has been the face of OpenAI, particularly after the release of ChatGPT, which kick-started the AI race. Recently, he led the keynote at the company's inaugural DevDay conference, where major updates were announced to compete with tech giants, such as Microsoft and Google.
As OpenAI's CEO, Altman elevated the company to the status of the most consequential AI company globally. Talks were underway to sell employee shares at a valuation of $86 billion, highlighting the company's significant influence.
ChatGPT and Dall-E, OpenAI’s image generator, made generative AI mainstream, leveraging technology that trains on extensive digital data to produce human-like content.
The OpenAI transition
Altman's shock exit surprised those inside and outside the company. He took to microblogging site X shortly after OpenAI blogged about his firing. "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", he wrote.
Greg Brockman, another OpenAI co-founder who served as chairman of the board, stepped down immediately after Altman's departure was announced.
He, too, took to X, formerly Twitter, to share the note he sent the OpenAI team, announcing his decision to step down. "We’ve been through tough and great times together, accomplishing so much despite all the reasons it should have been impossible. But based on today’s news, I quit," he wrote.
Mira Murati, an Albanian-born engineer and OpenAI's Chief Technology Officer, will serve as the interim CEO.
Murati, who played a crucial role in developing ChatGPT and Dall-E, said she was "honoured and humbled" to step into the leadership role.
The interim CEO said the current juncture was an opportunity for progress in AI development, emphasising the importance of using AI for good as policymakers contemplate regulations for these systems.
(With agency inputs)
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