Sam Altman, commonly known as the ChatGPT CEO, was actually the CEO of OpenAI, the organization behind the popular generative artificial intelligence model. Since ChatGPT took the internet by storm last year, Altman was thrust in the spotlight. As CEO, he would champion the cause online and in his professional engagements, and it seemed he would continue to be at the helm of the company.
However, in a move that shocked the industry, OpenAI announced out of the blue yesterday that Sam Altman had been fired. While what happened behind the scenes hasn't been revealed, the language that was used in the press release suggests that the cause may be significant.
Microsoft was informed one minute before the announcement
The shock announcement from OpenAI read: Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.
Leadership transitions aren't uncommon but it's rarely happens that an outgoing CEO gets put on blast like that even if there were disagreements between the leadership and the board. No further information has been provided as yet so it's unclear what led to Altman's firing, but the nature of the announcement suggests that perhaps more explosive information is yet to surface. Altman didn't provide any context about the reason behind his firing, only saying on X that he “will have more to say about what’s next later.”
It appears that the firing went down in a rather dramatic fashion at OpenAI. Former OpenAI president, co-founder and board chair Greg Brockman revealed that Altman was informed on a Google Meet call by OpenAI Chief Scientist and baord member Ilya Sutskever that he was being firmed. Sutskever then had a Google Meet call with Brockman a few minutes later to inform him of Altman's firing and also to inform Brockman that he had been removed from the board. Brockman subsequently confirmed on X that he quit OpenAI altogether.
Microsoft, one of OpenAI's biggest investors, was also reportedly taken by surprise. The company reportedly had no clue about the internal disputes at OpenAI, and was only informed about Altman's firing one minute before the company put out the blog post. Microsoft's share saw a steep decline soon after the news was announced. For its part, OpenAI doesn't seem to want to upset the relationship with Microsoft, with the new interim CEO Mira Murati telling staff in a company-wide meeting that OpenAI's relationship with Microsoft is stable. A statement from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on X suggests that as well.
The industry is understandably in a state of shock over the drama that's unfolded at what has arguably been one of the hottest AI companies on the market. Many theories are already floating around as to what may have caused this sudden rift between Altman and the board that led to his firing. It's likely that we'll continue to hear a lot more about what happened behind the scenes, and if what has happened so far is any indication, it has all the makings of a gripping Silicon Valley drama.
