Sam Altman and OpenAI's board have initiated talks to potentially reinstate the former CEO of the artificial intelligence (AI) research lab, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.
Talks are underway between Altman and at least one board member, Adam D'Angelo, the report said, adding that the former CEO may rejoin as a director on a transitional board.
Former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor could also serve as a director on a new board, the report added.
This development comes after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in an interview to CNBC that he’d be open to Altman returning to OpenAI, rather than joining his company. Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman are set to join Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team.
The talks also involve some the AI startup's investors, many of whom are pushing for his reinstatement, the report said.
Efforts are underway to resolve the leadership turmoil within the company before Thanksgiving, the Bloomberg report said.
Attempts to reinstate Altman to his position as CEO stalled this week due to disagreements over the composition and authority of the board.
The board's decision to oust Altman, saying that Altman was not consistently candid in his communications, drew widespread criticism.
According to the Bloomberg report, the recently appointed interim CEO Emmett Shear has been left in the dark, adding that he has informed people close to OpenAI that he does not intend to stay on if the board cannot provide him with a clear explanation for Altman's abrupt dismissal.
Several employees, including co-founder Ilya Sutskever, on November 20 signed a letter demanding the resignation of the remaining board members. They indicated that they would follow Altman to his new AI research venture at Microsoft if their demands were not met.
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