Sam Altman will once again become the CEO of OpenAI. OpenAI and Altman confirmed this news. In addition, we are introduced to three new board members, including the former co-CEO of Salesforce.
The crisis at OpenAI started with the firing of CEO Sam Altman and now ends with the return of the same person. According to the company, an “agreement in principle” has already been reached, reports TechCrunch.
The board of directors, the part of OpenAI that initiated the crisis by giving Altman his resignation, did not win the fight. Three new members have been proposed, which will indicate that three members of this board were removed. Bret Taylor, former co-CEO of Salesforce, Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary, and Adam D’Angelo, founder of knowledge platform Quora, will fill the empty seats.
Altman: ‘I love OpenAI’
Altman posted on X about the negotiations around 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday. “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.” Shortly after the firing, Microsoft had reached out. Both Altman and college Greg Brockman, who also had been fired by the board, were immediately invited to join Microsoft to lead a new, cutting-edge AI research team.
Microsoft is the main investor in the AI company, holding just under half the shares. They proved to be a reliable partner with the job offer for Altman, Brockman and any OpenAI employee who decided to leave the company. After Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella added that he was keeping the door open for Altman to return to the former company, he also made it clear he could put pressure on OpenAI’s board of directors.
That statement followed an open letter from 90 percent of the staff stating that the former CEO should return and the board of directors should leave in order for the AI company’s staff to stay with the company. Nadella made sure by his statement that at least the board could not neglect the letter because the demands could never be met now that Altman already had another job.
Also read: ‘OpenAI board is checkmated; Altman must return as CEO’
Partnership with Microsoft strengthened
Altman also firmly cites the partnership with Microsoft in his message, “With the new board and with Satya’s support, I look forward to returning to OpenAI, and building on our strong partnership with Microsoft.”
Nadella also sounds positive on the social media platform and additionally confirms that Brockman will return to OpenAI. “Sam, Greg and I talked and agreed that they both have key roles to take on the OpenAI leadership team to ensure that OpenAI continues to thrive and build on its mission.”