Former Open AI executive reveals why the board fired Sam Altman

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

In November 2023, Open AI’s co-founder and CEO Sam Altman was abruptly dismissed from the company, shocking everyone. However, he was reappointed as CEO once again three days later amidst much drama. Now, Helen Toner, a former OpenAI board member has detailed about the events leading to Altman’s ouster from the company during an interview on The TED AI Show podcast.

She revealed that the Open AI board was compelled to eventually release Altman discreetly as he was obstructing the company’s future efforts. Toner further revealed that the board had lost trust in Altman and was unaware of his undisclosed ownership in the Open AI Startup Fund.

According to Toner, another major reason behind Sam Altman's ousting was when two OpenAI executives reported instances of "psychological abuse" to the board. She said, “They were really serious, to the point where they actually sent us screenshots and documentation of some of the instances they were telling us about.”

Surprisingly, Toner also revealed that the board members of Open AI only came to know about the launch of the popular chatbot, ChatGPT in 2022 via Twitter (now known as X). She added that on multiple occasions, Altman gave the board inaccurate information about the company’s formal safety processes.

OpenAI has also responded to Helen Toner's claims and said, "We are disappointed that Miss Toner continues to revisit these issues...The review concluded that the prior board's decision was not based on concerns regarding product safety or security, the pace of development, OpenAI's finances, or its statements to investors, customers, or business partners."

However, Sam Altman has directly not commented anything on this matter after the revelations made by Helen Toner.