ALBAWABA – In a surprising turn of events, ousted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is to return to the helm of the artificial intelligence (AI) startup, according to a company post on X on Wednesday, after company staff and employees threatened to quit to join Altman at Microsoft.
The company on Monday announced that the ousted OpenAI CEO will not be returning, and that former Twitch boss Emmitt Shear will be hired in his stead.
Nonetheless, AlBawaba was one of the first to report on the possibility of Altman returning as OpenAI CEO.
Employees on Tuesday declared mutiny at OpenAI, demanding Altman be reinstated and threatening to leave the company if he is not.
Microsoft, a major investor in OpenAI, responded to the dismissal of Altman saying he will be joining as CEO of an AI research unit, under Microsoft, along with other executives and one of the cofounders.
The tech behemoth also confirmed that OpenAI employees who want to leave the company are welcome to join Altman at Mircosoft, doubling the blow to the AI startup.
As a result, Bloomberg also reported that Altman is returning as chief executive officer and the initial board is to be led by Bret Taylor, a former co-CEO of Salesforce Inc. and director at Twitter, pre-Elon Musk.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reinstated with new board of directors - Shutterstock
An unnamed source told the New York-based news agency that the reworked board may not be final. Its main priority is to nominate and select up to nine new directors, they said.
Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Altman had agreed not to be on the board, for now, in order to get the deal done, the source confirmed to Bloomberg. But it is likely that he will eventually join the board of directors.
As demanded by Microsoft, three days ago, the company on Tuesday agreed to reshuffle the board, with Adam D’Angelo, co-founder and CEO of Quora Inc., being the only board member to be reappointed, for now.
In a statement on X, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella welcomed the changes to OpenAI's board. "We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance," he said.
The deal to restore the ousted OpenAI CEO ushers in a potentially new era for the startup, which has long juggled concerns among staff about AI's dangers and its potential for commercialization, according to Reuters.
Tuesday's reshuffle appears to favor Altman and financial backer Microsoft, which is rolling out OpenAI's technology to business customers globally.
