AI startup OpenAI has plunged into turmoil after the abrupt firing of CEO Sam Altman, a move that has placed tech giant Microsoft squarely amid the unfolding drama. In the days following Altman's termination, news has surfaced of him joining Microsoft, OpenAI employees threatening to resign and join Microsoft, and discussions of Altman being reinstated. Here's a quick overview of the recent shake-up.
November 17 - OpenAI Fires Sam Altman as CEO; Four People, Including a Co-Founder Quit
Following a "deliberative review process" by the company's board of directors, OpenAI announced that Sam Altman had been fired as its CEO, with Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati named interim CEO while the search for a "permanent successor" was underway.
A few hours after Altman was ousted, OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman announced he was leaving the company.
After learning today’s news, this is the message I sent to the OpenAI team: https://t.co/NMnG16yFmm pic.twitter.com/8x39P0ejOM
— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023
Brockman shared his version of the events that led to Altman's termination in a separate post. Writing that Altman received a text Thursday night from Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's Chief Scientist who also serves on the board of directors, asking for the two to talk at noon the following day. Altman and Sutskever, in addition to several non-employee board members, were on a Google Meet, where they told Altman he was being fired. Sutskever then invited Brockman to a Google Meet call to inform him of Altman's removal.
Alongside Brockman, The Information reported that evening that three senior researchers, two of whom were revealed to collaborate with Brockman on creating OpenAI's Dota 2-playing bot, have quit.
November 18 & 19, 2023 - OpenAI Board In Discussions to Have Altman Reinstated as CEO But Discussions Fall Apart
The Verge reported that OpenAI's board was discussing with Altman to be reinstated as its CEO. However, those discussions fell apart.
Novmeber 20, 2023 - Microsoft Hires Altman, Former Twitch CEO Named New CEO of OpenAI, and Hundreds of OpenAI Employees Threaten to Leave and Join Microsoft
After discussions fell through, Microsoft, who announced earlier this year that it was making a multi-million dollar investment into OpenAI, announced that it was hiring both Altman and Brockman. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced both would lead a new advanced AI research team within the company, with Altman having the title of CEO of this specific research group.
OpenAI would also have some news regarding a change of leadership as well. Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, would succeed Mira Murati as the new interim CEO. Shear announced his new role on X, explaining why he accepted the position, provided a small update on the state of OpenAI, as well as his three-point plan for the next month as he assumed the role.
Today I got a call inviting me to consider a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to become the interim CEO of @OpenAI. After consulting with my family and reflecting on it for just a few hours, I accepted. I had recently resigned from my role as CEO of Twitch due to the birth of my…
— Emmett Shear (@eshear) November 20, 2023
Towards the end of the post, Shear revealed that prior to accepting the role, he looked into the reasoning behind the change in leadership, saying that the board "did not remove Sam over any disagreement on safety," and their reasonings were for something completely different.
Shear's comment likely refers to a post that Altman made earlier this year in regards to artificial intelligence, where he said, "[w]e are messing around with something we don't fully understand."
Bloomberg reported yesterday that OpenAI's board has once again resumed negotiations to bring Altman back as CEO despite his new job, and Shear is also involved in these negotiations. Sources familiar with the matter told The Verge that Altman wants to return to OpenAI as its CEO.
Wired reported on Monday morning that over 700 hundred OpenAI employees signed a letter threatening to quit their jobs and join Altman at Microsoft unless the company's board of directors resigned and reinstated Altman as the startup's CEO.
November 21, 2023 - Microsoft Executive Entices OpenAI Employees to Join, Pledging to Match Compensation If They Decide to Join
Kevin Scott, Microsoft's Chief Technology Officer and Executive VP of AI, wrote a post on X promising that the tech giant will match OpenAI's compensation if they are interested in quitting their jobs and want to join Altman's new AI research team within Microsoft.
To my partners at OpenAI: We have seen your petition and appreciate your desire potentially to join Sam Altman at Microsoft’s new AI Research Lab. Know that if needed, you have a role at Microsoft that matches your compensation and advances our collective mission.
— Kevin Scott (@kevin_scott) November 21, 2023
That's currently where the situation stands, yet so many questions remain. As negotiations continue, the questions remain of whether or not these discussions will have Altman reinstated as CEO or will he finalize the initial job offer at Microsoft and lead its new AI research group. Or, could Atlman not end up at either company and instead venture off to do something else? The New York Times previously reported that Atlman was floating around the idea of making a new AI company that would focus on making AI chips to rival Nvidia's AI TPU chips.
In either case, we will continue to update this story. For more information on artificial intelligence, check out our AI week coverage, where we explore how AI impacts society and various industries, including entertainment and gaming.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
