Technology: Finally, Sam Altman to return as OpenAI’s CEO

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: The storm in the coffee mug lasted barely four days.

After Microsoft’s open offer, shareholders’ threat to sue the board, and employees’ rebellion, OpenAI has decided to bring Sam Altman back as its CEO, and said the company’s new board will be chaired by Bret Taylor and include Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo.

OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT, an AI tool that took the world by storm this year and pushed governments to rush protective legislation, was forced to bring back Altman and appoint new board members after nearly all of its employees threatened to quit over his surprise ouster last weekend, the media reported on Wednesday.

“(We are) working to figure out the details,” OpenAI said on X (formerly Twitter).

Altman, who was fired by OpenAI’s board on Friday last following disagreements on how fast to develop and monetize artificial intelligence (AI), was already negotiating with the company to return. But he and his supporters reportedly put a condition for the return that the existing board members must quit. So, their talks reached an impasse on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the board named a new leader, former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear, as the CEO. But when OpenAI’s biggest backer, Microsoft Corp., said it would hire Altman to head up a new in-house AI team, it forced the company to rehire the fired CEO.

The Bill Gates-founded Microsoft has reportedly invested USD 13 billion in OpenAI and owns a 49 percent stake in it. Also, Microsoft is integrating AI “Co-pilot” technology into its office productivity and cybersecurity software.

The media reported on Monday, quoting Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, that Altman, along with Greg Brockman and other former OpenAI employees, will be joining Microsoft.

“We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners,” Nadella posted on X.

“We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI’s new leadership team and working with them. We’re extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success,” the Microsoft CEO wrote.

This veiled threat from its biggest investor appears to have forced OpenAI to recall Altman, rather than leave him free to create a rival under Microsoft’s umbrella.

On Saturday last, OpenAI announced Sam Altman’s departure in a blog post, saying that he had been inconsistent with his communications with the board. “The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI,” it said.

Altman also talked about his sudden exit in a post on X. He wrote that it was a “weird experience” and was like “reading his own eulogy.”

“I love you all. Today was a weird experience in many ways. But one unexpected one is that it has been sorta like reading your own eulogy while you’re still alive. The outpouring of love is awesome. One takeaway: go tell your friends how great you think they are,” he wrote on X.

Following wide-ranging disagreements on AI safety, ChatGPT maker OpenAI ousted Sam Altman from his role as the company’s chief executive, sending shock waves across the tech industry.

Even India was quick to offer Altman a job.

“Come build foundational AI models for India… the world needs more AI platforms outside of big tech, and god knows it’s our time now,” Shadi.com CEO and Shark India judge Anupam Mittal wrote in a post.

What exactly led to Altman’s exit from OpenAI in the first place?

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that Altman was trying to raise tens of billions of dollars from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds to create an AI chip startup to compete with processors made by Nvidia Corp. He was also courting SoftBank Group Corp. chairman Masayoshi Son for a multibillion-dollar investment in a new company to make AI-oriented hardware.

OpenAI board members were reportedly irked by Altman raising funds off OpenAI’s name and these new companies not sharing the same governance model as OpenAI,