Ousted CEO Sam Altman Continues Talks to Return to OpenAI

Sam Altman and the board members who fired him last weekend are continuing to negotiate a return to OpenAI amid pressure from its largest shareholders and employees, Bloomberg reported.

Negotiations took place between Sam Altman and Adam D'Angelo – a member of the board of directors.

im 890457.jpg — Sam Altman was forced to resign on November 17. (Photo: Reuters)

One of the four directors who voted to fire Sam – Ilya Sutskever – admitted that he made a mistake in doing so. Sam Altman may return as CEO of OpenAI. Former Twitter President Bret Taylor is expected to join the board.

Anna Makanju, OpenAI’s head of global affairs, sent a memo to staff on November 20 saying she was exploring “multiple mutually acceptable” options with Altman. “Intense discussions are ongoing,” the memo said.

Meanwhile, new OpenAI CEO Emmett Shear is said to be considering leaving if the board of directors does not provide more information about the reason for Atlman's dismissal, according to Bloomberg.

The crisis at developer ChatGPT began on November 17 after the board of directors suddenly fired Altman without a clear explanation, blinding investors and employees.

OpenAI’s top executives invited Sam to headquarters on November 19 in hopes of bringing him back. However, that effort failed, and the board instead appointed Shear as the new CEO.

On November 20, Altman and former OpenAI President Greg Brockman were hired by Microsoft. The next day, the tech giant promised to take on OpenAI employees who chose to leave with their former boss.

The incident caused an uproar within OpenAI. About 97% of employees threatened to leave the company unless the board resigned and Altman returned. Shear tried to convene an all-staff meeting earlier in the week, but was unsuccessful.

The startup's top investors also pressured the board to reverse the decision, asking Shear to step aside and reinstate Altman.

“It’s time for Shear to step down before he becomes the sole employee of OpenAI,” said Vnod Khosla, one of the early investors in OpenAI.

Speculation about Sam Altman's future has been fueled after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he would support him even if he returned to OpenAI.

Microsoft is OpenAI’s largest investor, with a commitment of about $13 billion. Mr. Nadella also wants to see changes in startup governance.

According to media reports, Microsoft itself did not know about Sam Altman's firing until the news broke.

Insider reported that 747 of 770 OpenAI employees have signed a petition calling for the current board members to resign. The petition reads: “We cannot work for or with people who lack competence, judgment, and care for our mission and our employees. We, the undersigned, have the option to resign from OpenAI and join the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary led by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. We will do this immediately unless all current board members resign.”

They also tweeted together the message “OpenAI is nothing without people.”

(According to Telegraph)

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