Ousted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will be returning to his position with the company, OpenAI said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Late Tuesday evening, it announced, “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.”
The move follows five days of musical chairs and corporate chaos in which OpenAI announced two interim CEOs, and more than 95 per cent of employees signed a letter demanding the removal of the board and Altman’s return, and threatening to resign if it didn’t happen.
Ironically, the board member who was believed to have instigated the attempted coup later signed the letter. He is not a member of the new board.
Altman posted late last night that he is looking forward to returning to OpenAI.
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 (@sama) November 22, 2023
Greg Brockman, OpenAI co-founder, who resigned after Altman’s firing, posted on X that he, too, is also returning to the firm.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who had quickly hired Altman and Brockman to lead a new advanced AI research group at Microsoft, posted the following after hearing a deal had been reached:
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… https://t.co/djO6Fuz6t9
— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 22, 2023
The Verge reported this morning that all parties have agreed to an independent investigation into the fiasco, and commented that “based on our conversations with people involved, the very human power struggle at the center of all this seems not yet completely over.”