News Technology Sam Altman returns, fires OpenAI board that fired him

Sam Altman returns, fires OpenAI board that fired him

OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman shared a picture with his team on X after he and Sam Altman returned to the ChatGPT developing company.

Sam Altman Returns Image Source : PTISam Altman Returns

A day after returning as CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman has replaced the board that fired him from his role. Now, in the latest Altman era, the lone survivor who's come out on top in the boardroom is Adam D'Angelo- the guy steering the ship at Quora, the question-and-answer site.  Bret Taylor, former co-CEO of Salesforce, and Larry Summers, former US Treasury Secretary and president of Harvard University, are set to join him. Thus, the new initial board of directors include - former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, former Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers, and co-founder and CEO of Quora Adam D'Angelo.  

According to multiple reports, there could be up to nine directors, with Microsoft expected to have a seat on the board. Altman himself was not named to the board, but there is speculation that he will join at some point. The three board members who moved to oust Altman -- Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley, and Ilya Sutskever -- are expected to leave their positions as part of the changes.

"We Are Back"

Meanwhile, OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman has shared a picture with his team on X after he and Sam Altman returned to OpenAI. "We are so back," Brockman captioned his picture. See his post below. 

Sam Altman returns to OpenAI

Yesterday, Sam Altman said he is returning to the ChatGPT developing company with a new board and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s support. In a post on X, Altman said he loves OpenAI and everything he has done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together.

“When I decided to join Microsoft on Sunday evening, it was clear that was the best path for me and the team,” he posted, adding that with the new board and with Nadella’s support, I’m looking forward to returning to OpenAI and building on our strong partnership with Microsoft.

OpenAI, on the other hand, said that it has reached an agreement in principle for Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo. 

How did Emmett Shear react? 

Former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear, who was appointed as interim CEO of OpenAI after Altman's sacking, said that he is deeply pleased by OpenAI's final result of hiring Altman back. "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 maximised safety alongside doing right by all stakeholders involved. I’m glad to have been a part of the solution," Shear wrote.