OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to return to company he founded

The business end of technology is moving as fast as technology itself as OpenAI has reversed its decision to separate from CEO and founder Sam Altman.

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Days after firing Altman as the company’s CEO, he is returning to the business along with a new board of directors, The Associated Press reported.

“We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board,” the ChatGPT parent company said in a statement late Tuesday.

We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo.

We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this.

— OpenAI November 22, 2023

The board will be led by former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor who will serve with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo. Taylor formerly served on Twitter’s board before Elon Musk bought the company while D’Angelo served on OpenAI’s previous board of directors who had fired Altman.

The previous board who had fired Altman last week said that he had not been “candid” enough with them, CNN reported. Some of the rumors surrounded how Altman wanted to be more aggressive when it came to AI development while the board wanted to be more cautious.

Altman had briefly been hired by Microsoft which was a major investor in OpenAI, owning about 49% of the company, the AP and Business Insider reported. Also hired by Microsoft, OpenAI co-founder and former president Greg Brockman who had quit in protest of Altman’s firing. They were tasked to lead a new AI research team, CNN reported.

The former head of Twitch, Emmett Shear, was named interim CEO, and no announcement has been made on what his role will be going forward, but he did write on social media that he was “deeply pleased” and that he was “glad to have been part of the solution,” CNN reported.

I am deeply pleased by this result, after ~72 very intense hours of work. Coming into OpenAI, I wasn’t sure what the right path would be. This was the pathway that maximized safety alongside doing right by all stakeholders involved. I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.

— Emmett Shear November 22, 2023

Altman posted on social media after the agreement was hammered out that he was “looking forward” to returning while building the “strong partnership” with Microsoft.

i love openai, and everything i’ve done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together. when i decided to join msft on sun evening, it was clear that was the best path for me and the team. with the new board and w satya’s support, i’m...

— Sam Altman November 22, 2023 A majority of OpenAI’s employees threatened to walk out if the company didn’t bring Altman back on board. Microsoft was making maneuvers to hire them, Business Insider reported. It was gathering MacBooks and training groups to help onboard the employees and get them to work immediately. While some OpenAI employees may decide to stick with the company, Microsoft was ready to welcome them, saying on social media that they would match the compensation OpenAI gives them.

To my partners at OpenAI: We have seen your petition and appreciate your desire potentially to join Sam Altman at Microsoft’s new AI Research Lab. Know that if needed, you have a role at Microsoft that matches your compensation and advances our collective mission.

— Kevin Scott November 21, 2023