OpenAI agrees to Sam Altman’s return as CEO

OpenAI announced that it has reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo. This was posted on the company’s “X” page this morning.

This, in essence, brings to an end the saga that started on Friday last week when Sam Altman was dismissed from the company he co-founded. The board at that time, said it conducted “a deliberative review process” and “concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.” The board comprised of the firm’s chief scientist Ilya Sutskever and independent directors like Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner of the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology.

In response, Sam Altman posted that “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, the former President and co-founder that was also told to step down, also affirmed that he would be “returning to OpenAI and getting back to coding tonight”. It was as if he had already come back as he posted that people should give ChatGPT voice (the latest product) a try.

Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, who was at the centre of bringing about peace to the troubled company, stated that Microsoft was encouraged by the chnages to the OpenAI board. He added that the company believes that this is a first essential step on a path to a 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.”

Microsoft invested over $10 billion in OpenAI.

Emmett Shear who was appointed interim CEO on Sunday, said on X that he was “deeply pleased by this result, after ~72 very intense hours of work. Coming into OpenAI, I wasn’t sure what the right path would be. This was the pathway that maximized safety alongside doing right by all stakeholders involved. I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.”