Sam Altman, face of generative AI, fired by OpenAI board. Now what?

Earlier this year, Time magazine had ranked Sam Altman among the most influential people in AI for 2023. (Photo via X)

In September 2023, New York Magazine called him the Oppenheimer of our age. Two months later he is grabbing headlines all over the world, yet again. To call Sam Altman the AI rockstar, is not an exaggeration. Almost everything he’s done over the past year has received a lot of attention. And now it’s his ouster from the OpenAI board that’s occupying a significant chunk of news and social media feeds across the world. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT has fired Sam Altman as CEO of OpenAI, in a move that’s both shocking and unexpected.

It's official

“Mr Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities”. Open AI shared details of Altman’s exit via a blog post. The post further adds - OpenAI was deliberately structured to advance our mission: to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all humanity. The board remains fully committed to serving this mission. We are grateful for Sam’s many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI. At the same time, we believe new leadership is necessary as we move forward”. The post also confirmed that CTO Mira Murati will step into the role of the interim CEO during this transition phase.

A shock move

Most industry observers have been shocked by the move, given that Altman represented the $90 billion company in a panel discussion at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco. Altman took to X (formerly Twitter) soon after the announcement to share that leading the company had been a transformative experience for him personally. Earlier this year, Time magazine had ranked him among the most influential people in AI for 2023. It didn’t take long for OpenAI President Greg Brockman, the co-founder to announce that he would be leaving the company too.

Who is Sam Altman?

Sam Altman is among the founders of Open AI. It all started as a research non-profit in 2015 with funding from the likes of Elon Musk and Amazon Web Services. Altman became the CEO in 2019, a year after Elon Musk quit being an OpenAI board member. Altman was part of the transition to a for-profit OpenAI subsidiary and a partnership with Microsoft (the company invested $1 billion).

ChatGPT phenomenon

ChatGPT has been one of the most Googled words since its debut in November last year. OpenAI put the spotlight on Generative AI and leapfrogged companies like Google that had spent years working on artificial intelligence solutions. ChatGPT, demonstrated the power of AI like never before. The chatbot garnered 100 million users in no time and put AI and Sam Altman in the forefront.

In a recent Gartner poll of more than 2,500 executive leaders, 45 percent reported that the buzz around ChatGPT has prompted them to increase their investments in AI. Seventy percent of respondents said that their organisation is in the investigation and exploration mode with generative AI while 19 percent are in pilot or production mode.

As early as 2021, Altman envisioned the impending AI revolution with three key consequences as sufficiently powerful AI joins the workforce. During the summer of 2023, Altman met with lawmakers and members of the US Congress about the emerging tech and its potential risks. Another reason why this move by OpenAI comes as a big surprise.

The rumour mills are just getting started

Speculation has been rife almost from the minute Altman’s exit was announced. We’ve heard everything from personal scandals to clashes with his board over the future direction of OpenAI. Elon Musk has been one of the critics of OpenAI’s shift to a for-profit model as early as February, saying it’s being controlled by Microsoft. Could Altman’s exit give other AI companies a shot in the arm? And what happens to OpenAI’s staggering $80 billion valuation? The other big question is around Altman’s next moves. The next few days could give us more clarity in this developing saga that has huge consequences for the world of tech and AI.