OpenAI Turmoil: Employees rally behind Altman, demand board resignation: Report

Former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in picture) and president Greg Brockman will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team

In a recent twist in Silicon Valley drama, hundreds of OpenAI employees, including co-founder Ilya Sutskever, signed a letter demanding the resignation of remaining board members or they would join Sam Altman's new venture at Microsoft. Wired and Kara Swisher reported on November 20.

According to the report, 490 out of 700 employees threatened to leave unless the board resigned and reinstated Sam Altman as CEO, along with co-founder and former president Greg Brockman.

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"The process through which you terminated Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman from the board has jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and company," the letter stated, as reported by Wired. "Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAI," it added.

Former OpenAI CEO Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman are set to join Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team, as announced by Satya Nadella earlier today. This news followed Altman's unexpected exit from OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.

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Amid the boardroom drama, Sutskever posted on X: "I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we've built together and will do everything I can to reunite the company."

OpenAI’s board had removed Altman from his position on November 17, claiming "he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities."

Mira Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer, was appointed as interim CEO, and later, Emmett Shear, the former CEO of the video game streaming site Twitch, in a quick rejig.

Wired also reported that some OpenAI staff stayed up all night debating a course of action following news that Altman would not return to OpenAI. Many staff were frustrated about a lack of communication over Altman’s firing.

The letter reads (seen by Wired)

To the Board of Directors at OpenAI,

OpenAI is the world’s leading AI company. We, the employees of OpenAI, have developed the best models and pushed the field to new frontiers. Our work on AI safety and governance shapes global norms. The products we built are used by millions of people around the world. Until now, the company we work for and cherish has never been in a stronger position.