After the dramatic twists and turns of Sam Altman being sacked by the OpenAI board last week, and the subsequent announcement from Microsoft about Altman and Greg Brockman joining the company to lead a new advanced AI research team, OpenAI announced on Wednesday, through the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), that it has reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return as the CEO.
In addition to Altman's return as the OpenAI CEO, the company appointed new board members chaired by Bret Taylor and including Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo, the company said in a post on X.
Taking on X, OpenAI posted, "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," said OpenAI in the X post.
In response, Sam Altman on X posted, "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 looking forward to returning to openai, and building on our strong partnership with msft."
Greg Brockman, who resigned from his position as President and Co-founder of OpenAI following Sam Altman's termination last week, reposted the OpenAI post on his Social Media Platform X, stating, "Amazing progress made today. We will come back stronger and more unified than ever."
In another post, he added, "Returning to OpenAI & getting back to coding tonight."
Satya Nadella's comments regarding Sam Altman's return to OpenAI
Reposting Sam Altman's post on X, Satya Nadellas said, "We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board. We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance. Sam, Greg, and I have talked and agreed they have a key role to play along with the OAI leadership team in ensuring OAI continues to thrive and build on its mission. We look forward to building on our strong partnership and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners."
Sam Altman sacked by OpenAI
Sam Altman, the CEO and co-founder of OpenAI, the organization behind ChatGPT, has stepped down from his position and resigned from the company's board with immediate effect. The company revealed in a blog post on November 17 that the board no longer has trust in Altman's capacity to steer the organization. The post mentioned that Altman's departure came after "a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities."
Following the termination of Sam Altman, the President, Greg Brockman, also announced his departure from the organisation and Mira Murati, the Chief Technology Officer, has been appointed as the interim CEO.
Later on, Satya Nadella announced in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, November 22, that Sam Altman, former OpenAI CEO, and President Greg Brockman will join Microsoft to spearhead a new advanced AI research team.
In his post on X, he mentioned, "We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI's new leadership team and working with them. And we’re extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success."
On Monday, OpenAI appointed Emmett Shear, the former head of Twitch, as the interim CEO, while the departing CEO Sam Altman transitioned to join Microsoft as a supporter.
