In a surprising turn of events, OpenAI announced on November 22 on X (formerly known as Twitter) that Sam Altman will be reinstated as the company's CEO. This decision comes on the heels of intense pressure from both employees and investors, who expressed strong disapproval of Altman's abrupt ouster by the board last week.
OpenAI said that it has reached an “agreement in principle” for Altman’s return as CEO. Bret Taylor, former co-CEO of Salesforce, and Larry Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury, will join the board of OpenAI, the AI research lab said. Adam D'Angelo, co-founder and CEO of Quora, will remain on the board.
"We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this," the company added in the post.
“I love OpenAI, and everything I’ve done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together. When I decided to join Microsoft on Sunday evening, it was clear that was the best path for me and the team. With the new board and with Satya’s support, I’m looking forward to returning to OpenAI, and building on our strong partnership with Microsoft,” Altman said in a post on X.
Brockman, who served as OpenAI's president before resigning following Altman's ouster, has also announced his return to the startup.
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.
OpenAI's former board, comprising chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, independent directors D'Angelo, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology's Helen Toner, drew sharp criticism for their unexpected removal of Altman as CEO.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella expressed support for the recent board changes at OpenAI in a post on X.
"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. Sam, Greg, and I have talked and agreed they have a key role to play along with the OAI leadership team in ensuring OAI continues to thrive and build on its mission. We look forward to building on our strong partnership and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners," Nadella said.
Nadella announced earlier this week that Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman will be joining Microsoft to head a new advanced AI research team.
Emmett Shear, the recently appointed interim CEO, also applauded the move, saying, "I am deeply pleased by this result, after ~72 very intense hours of work. Coming into OpenAI, I wasn’t sure what the right path would be. This was the pathway that maximized safety alongside doing right by all stakeholders involved. I’m glad to have been a part of the solution."
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