Breaking: Sam Altman Is Leaving OpenAI In Just A Week After Its DevDay

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI – ChatGPT parent company is leaving the board of the company or since it was announced by the board, the right word could be fired. In a statement, the AI company board said it no longer had confidence in the Sam Altman’s ability.

I must say no one saw this coming as the company recently finished its developer conference where it announced a slew of services including ChatGPT-4 Turbo.

Then just yesterday, they started limiting or outrightly rejecting signups on ChatGPT 4 because of over-subscription. Perhaps the board saw this as an overcommercialisation of a platform that was to make AI “free for all”.

Some are even predicting that this could be a prelude to a coming scandal – maybe financial in the days ahead. But whatever the reason, no one was expecting that this would be the big news going into the weekend.

Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, will serve as interim CEO, effective immediately even as the company searches for a permanent replacement. 

See full statement from OpenAI on Sam Altman’s departure below; 

The board of directors of OpenAI, Inc, the 501(c)(3) that acts as the overall governing body for all OpenAI activities, today announced that Sam Altman will depart as CEO and leave the board of directors. Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, will serve as interim CEO, effective immediately.

A member of OpenAI’s leadership team for five years, Mira has played a critical role in OpenAI’s evolution into a global AI leader. She brings a unique skill set, understanding of the company’s values, operations, and business, and already leads the company’s research, product, and safety functions. Given her long tenure and close engagement with all aspects of the company, including her experience in AI governance and policy, the board believes she is uniquely qualified for the role and anticipates a seamless transition while it conducts a formal search for a permanent CEO.

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.

In a statement, the board of directors said: “OpenAI was deliberately structured to advance our mission: to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all humanity. The board remains fully committed to serving this mission. We are grateful for Sam’s many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI. At the same time, we believe new leadership is necessary as we move forward. As the leader of the company’s research, product, and safety functions, Mira is exceptionally qualified to step into the role of interim CEO. We have the utmost confidence in her ability to lead OpenAI during this transition period.”

OpenAI’s board of directors consists of OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, independent directors Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology’s Helen Toner.

As a part of this transition, Greg Brockman will be stepping down as chairman of the board and will remain in his role at the company, reporting to the CEO.

OpenAI was founded as a non-profit in 2015 with the core mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. In 2019, OpenAI restructured to ensure that the company could raise capital in pursuit of this mission, while preserving the nonprofit’s mission, governance, and oversight. The majority of the board is independent, and the independent directors do not hold equity in OpenAI. While the company has experienced dramatic growth, it remains the fundamental governance responsibility of the board to advance OpenAI’s mission and preserve the principles of its Charter.