OpenAI's Chaotic Week, Sam Altman Returns as OpenAI CEO

In the past year, Elon Musk turned Twitter into X, crypto exchange FTX collapsed, and Sam Bankman-Fried and Changpeng Zhao (CZ) were convicted.

Last week, OpenAI and Sam Altman continued to add to the chaos in the tech world with hourly developments.

Sam Altman – the most prominent name in the field of artificial intelligence – was suddenly fired by the startup's board of directors on the evening of November 17.

Less than five days later, he returned as CEO of the company with a new board that, in theory, was more supportive of his vision.

sam altman.png — Sam Altman returns to OpenAI four days after being fired. (Photo: TechCrunch)

The series of special events comes just days after OpenAI held its first developer conference, where it unveiled new, commercial versions of its technology.

Friday (17/11)

Around 3 p.m. local time, Altman joined a Google Meet call with most of OpenAI’s board convened by OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, where he was told he was fired and that the news would soon be made public.

Within the next half hour, the board also informed Greg Brockman, another co-founder and OpenAI chairman, that he would be removed from the board.

Around 3:30 p.m., OpenAI publicly announced the firing of Sam Altman for not always being honest with the board. The board said CTO Mira Murati would become interim CEO.

OpenAI's strategic partners, including its largest financial backer Microsoft, were only told the news minutes before the public.

Brockman quickly quit. “Please don’t spend time worrying. We’ll be fine,” Brockman wrote on X. “Greater things are coming soon.”

According to CNN, a key factor leading to the CEO's dismissal was tension between Sam Altman, who advocated for stronger AI development, and members of the OpenAI board of directors, who wanted to be more cautious.

Saturday (18/11)

Within 24 hours, multiple reports said Sam and other former OpenAI employees were considering plans for their own companies.

The board is also said to be rethinking and considering bringing Sam back.

Sunday (19/11)

By Sunday afternoon, Altman was back at OpenAI headquarters—this time with a visitor’s pass—to negotiate his possible return. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is said to be mediating the discussion.

The board must agree to Sam Altman's demands, including adding a seat for Microsoft and restoring him as CEO, by 5 p.m.

However, those negotiations failed.

Mr. Nadella tweeted that Sam Altman, along with Brockman, will join Microsoft to run a new AI research group.

OpenAI also found an interim CEO: Emmett Shear, former CEO of Amazon's streaming service Twitch. Murati will return to his role as OpenAI's chief technology officer.

Monday (November 20)

In a post on X early Monday, Shear described the opportunity to join OpenAI as a “once in a lifetime” opportunity. He added that the company would hire an independent investigator to report on what happened before Sam Altman was fired.

But OpenAI employees are not convinced. More than 500 employees have signed an open letter calling for the company’s board of directors to resign and reinstate Sam Altman and Brockman.

They also threatened to follow the co-founders to Microsoft if their demands were not met.

On the afternoon of November 20, The Verge reported that Sam Altman and Brockman could still return to OpenAI if the board members resign.

CEO Nadella told CNBC he was “ open to both options” when asked if Sam Altman would indeed join Microsoft.

Tuesday (November 21)

Sam Altman was reinstated as CEO of OpenAI late Tuesday, the company said on X.

"We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new board of directors."

Additionally, the board will be chaired by former Salesforce CEO Bret Taylor. Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers will also join the board, along with current director and Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo.

Shear's future is unclear with Sam Altman back. On X, Shear wrote: "I'm extremely pleased with the result, after about 72 hours of very intense work."

Brockman will also return to OpenAI.

Microsoft and Sam Altman appear to be the ultimate winners: Altman will continue to lead the company he co-founded.

Microsoft is gaining more control of the company it has backed with billions of dollars to bolster its AI ambitions.

(According to CNN)

Sam Altman reinstated, OpenAI changes board structure OpenAI representatives announced that they have reached an 'agreement in principle' on Sam Altman returning to the position of CEO, while changing the board structure.

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