Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati has been named interim CEO to lead OpenAI. Sam Altman leaves the company.
A search process is underway to identify a permanent successor.
The OpenAI, Inc. (501(c)(3)) Board of Directors, which serves as the governing body for all OpenAI activities, today announced that Sam Altman will step down as CEO and leave the Board of Directors. Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, will serve as interim CEO immediately.
Mira has been a member of OpenAI’s leadership team for five years, playing a key role in OpenAI’s evolution into a global AI leader. She understands the company’s values, operations and business and brings her unique skill set, having already led the company’s research, product and safety departments. Given her long tenure and close involvement with all aspects of the company, including her experience in governance and policy, the board believes she is qualified for the role and has appointed her as a permanent employee. We look forward to a seamless transition while we conduct a formal search for a CEO.
Mr. Altman’s resignation follows a deliberation process by the Board of Directors, which concluded that Mr. Altman has not been consistently candid in his communications with the Board, which is interfering with his ability to fulfill the Board’s responsibilities. . The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.
The board said in a statement: “OpenAI was purposefully built to advance our mission that artificial general intelligence benefits all humanity. Our Board of Directors remains committed to this mission. We are grateful for Sam’s many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI. At the same time, we believe we need new leadership as we move forward. As the leader of the company’s research, product, and safety departments, Mila is extremely qualified to take on the role of Interim CEO, and we have the utmost confidence in her ability to lead OpenAI during this transition period.”
OpenAI’s Board of Directors is comprised of Ilya Sutskever, Chief Scientist at OpenAI, Adam D’Angelo, CEO of Quora, an independent director, Tasha McCauley, technology entrepreneur, and Helen Toner, Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technologies. It has been.
As part of this transition, Greg Brockman will step down as Chairman of the Board and remain with the company, reporting directly to the CEO.
OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit organization in 2015 with a core mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence benefits all humanity. In 2019, OpenAI reorganized itself to maintain its nonprofit mission, governance, and oversight while raising funds to pursue this mission. The majority of the board is independent, and no independent director owns any shares in his OpenAI. Although the company has experienced dramatic growth, advancing OpenAI’s mission and upholding the principles of the Charter remains the board’s fundamental governance responsibility.