Sam Altman leaves OpenAI, 95% of company employees threaten to quit

SGGPO 11/21/2023 11:20

According to Business Insider, 95% of the 770 employees working at the artificial intelligence company OpenAI (USA), signed an open letter asking the company's board of directors to resign and restore the position of CEO of Mr. Sam Altman. Otherwise, they will quit their jobs and move to Microsoft - Mr. Altman's new workplace.

Mr. Sam Altman. Photo: AP

The letter argues that the firing of Sam Altman is detrimental to all the work that has been done, undermining the company’s mission and operations. The dismissal of Mr. Altman demonstrates that the current board is not capable of overseeing OpenAI. “Microsoft has assured us that all OpenAI employees will have positions at the new subsidiary if we join them. We believe the best path forward is for the board to step down and appoint a board of directors capable of leading the company to sustainable development,” the letter states.

Notably, among the signatories of the open letter is Ilya Sutskever - OpenAI's chief scientist and also a member of OpenAI's four-person board of directors.

Investors such as Microsoft, Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global have also urged OpenAI to reinstate Sam Altman. Greg Brockman, one of the founders and presidents of OpenAI, resigned after CEO Sam Altman was fired. Since November 19, many key leaders of OpenAI have also expressed support for Mr. Altman on the X platform, including COO Brad Lightcap and CTO Mira Murati.

Altman was abruptly fired from OpenAI last weekend, after the board of directors announced that they no longer had confidence in the CEO’s ability to continue leading OpenAI. After a week of negotiations with OpenAI, now a major Microsoft partner, about bringing Altman back to the company, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella officially announced that both Sam Altman and Greg Brockman would join Microsoft’s newly formed Advanced AI Research Group.

OpenAI. Photo: Reuters

The OpenAI board of directors believes that Mr. Altman’s behavior and lack of transparency in his interactions undermined the board’s ability to oversee the company in the manner it is mandated to do. In a formal statement, OpenAI said that Mr. Altman was inconsistent and lacked candor in his communications with the board.

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