On Friday, the board of OpenAI, the AI startup behind ChatGPT and other AI-powered viral hits, took an unexpected action that appeared to be within its rights, and the company’s CEO, Sam. Mr. Altman was fired.
But judging from the way the situation unfolded, many of OpenAI’s investors, partners, and employees seemed to be feeling more comfortable. idea There should be more emphasis on the board’s authority than on the board’s exercise of that authority. And they weren’t counting on the cult of personality surrounding Altman, the former president of Y Combinator and longtime contributor to Silicon Valley’s startup scene.
Saturday evening, more than 24 hours after the OpenAI board announced that Altman would be temporarily replaced by OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. multiple Publication OpenAI has released a report indicating that it is in talks to bring Altman back to the helm.
What made them change their minds? No doubt the anger and panic of investors and the shaken class.
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, OpenAI’s lead partner, said: reportedly ‘Furious’ after learning of Altman’s resignationminutes” After that happened, I got in touch with Altman as a backer of OpenAI and promised to support him ( specific Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital) recruit Microsoft helped pressure the board to change course. Meanwhile, some of OpenAI’s major venture capital backers are said to be considering legal action against the board. No one, including Khosla Ventures and LinkedIn co-founder and former OpenAI board member Reid Hoffman, was notified of Altman’s decision to fire him in advance.
Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, said the fund would like to see Altman return to OpenAI, but would support him “in whatever he does next.”
Microsoft in particular has great influence. OpenAI is fraction Semafor said the majority of its recent $10 billion investment came in the form of cloud computing purchases rather than cash. If these credits and the rest of the cash investment are put on hold, his capital-hungry OpenAI could find itself financially unsustainable as the costs of operating and training AI systems increase.
OpenAI’s top AI researchers and executives are calling for OpenAI to be canceled as the board considers its next move.
On Friday, OpenAI’s president and co-founder Greg Brockman resigned after the company’s board stripped him of his chairmanship. Brockman was followed by three senior OpenAI researchers who left the company, including head of research Jakub Paciocki and head of preparation Alexander Madrid. And even more employees reportedly They have submitted their resignations.
They perceive this to be a power struggle with an unacceptable level of collateral damage, particularly between Quora CEO Adam DiAngelo, Sutskever, and two board members, Altman. . Sutskever said in an all-hands meeting on Friday that he felt Altman’s removal was “necessary” to protect OpenAI’s mission of “making AI beneficial to humanity,” adding that Altman’s commercial ambitions for the company were This suggested that the central figures in the group were beginning to be upset. (OpenAI’s Board of Directors is technically part of the nonprofit organization that manages OpenAI’s monetization strategy.)
but many The technology community, and apparently OpenAI, felt the opposite.outpouring eye-catching support For Altman, it was immediate.
And as Altman and Brockman approach OpenAI’s employee stock sale faces an uncertain future as investors worry about new ventures focused on AI chips, and the company’s board braces for an unpleasant change in direction. Mr. Sutskever and the remaining members of the board — technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley; Helen Toner, director of strategy at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technologies, may have felt that their decision to fire Altman was justified. But it seems like that wasn’t really the decision they made.
Case in point, The Verge. report Late Saturday, the company announced that its board had agreed in principle to resign. make roomPresumably for the benefit of those working with Microsoft and to allow Altman and Brockman to return. However, The Verge’s sources say Altman is “ambivalent” about his return and reportedly wants a “significant” change in management.wall street journal report Altman reportedly told those involved that it was “ridiculous” that major shareholders had no say in OpenAI’s governance.
The board has since been stumped, with The Verge reporting that it missed yesterday evening’s deadline for many OpenAI staff to leave the company. But its fate, and that of his OpenAI structure, appears to be all but sealed.