UPDATE (3:46PM): It looks like the OpenAI board of directors have decided on another interim CEO. Rather than stepping down and reinstating Sam Altman, the board has picked former Twitch CEO and co-founder, Emmett Shear, to temporarily lead the company instead.
It’s an odd choice, given that it’s not a household name in the AI industry. According to Wired, Shear describes himself as a “techno-optimist, but has expressed deep fears of a rogue sentient AI”.
ORIGINAL STORY (11:28AM):
Sam Altman, co-founder and former CEO of OpenAI, was abruptly fired by the company’s board of directors recently. This also lead to another co-founder, Greg Brockman, who was also the board chairman, to step down. But it looks like the company is currently in talks with the two to have them reinstated in their old roles.
On his own X, previously Twitter, account, Altman shared an image of himself wearing a guest badge while visiting a company building. This coincided with a report by The Information that claims that interim CEO of OpenAI, Mira Murati, had invited the two to discuss the matter.
first and last time i ever wear one of these pic.twitter.com/u3iKwyWj0a
— Sam Altman (@sama) November 19, 2023
Though it looks like the reinstatement process will not be an easy one. The Verge reports that one condition for Altman’s return to OpenAI was the removal of the current board that ousted him in the first place. A tad ironic is that one of the current board members is another company co-founder, Ilya Sutskever, who is claimed to be “instrumental” to Altman’s ousting.
On the flip side, Bloomberg reports that the biggest backers of OpenAI want the company to reinstate Altman as CEO. This includes Microsoft, working with fellow investors Thrive Capital and Tiger Global Management. Like the condition set by Altman himself, the report claims that investors also want the current board to be replaced.
Should his return not happen in the end, Altman has supposedly considered starting something new with fellow former OpenAI staffers. The report noted that several other employees have departed the company in protest of the ousting, with more to come should Altman not be reinstated.
(Source: The Information, Bloomberg, The Verge, Wired)
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