Sam Altman, the CEO and co-founder of ChatGPT, was dismissed by Open AI on Friday following a review that uncovered his lack of transparency in his communications with the board of directors.
In a statement, the artificial intelligence company expressed that “the board no longer has faith in his capacity to continue leading OpenAI.”
Altman, who has emerged as a prominent figure in Silicon Valley due to his insights on the promises and potential risks of artificial intelligence since catapulting ChatGPT to global recognition, faced an abrupt and relatively mysterious departure that cast uncertainty on the sector’s future.
While a long-term replacement is being sought, OpenAI revealed that Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, will step into the interim CEO role immediately.
According to reports, Greg Brockman, the chairman of the board and another co-founder and top executive at OpenAI, might step down from his current position but will remain with the company in a leadership capacity. Brockman later announced his departure by writing, “based on yesterday’s information, I quit,” on X, a platform previously known as Online.
OpenAI chose not to address inquiries regarding Altman’s alleged lack of honesty, citing that his behavior hindered the board’s ability to fulfill its responsibilities.
Expressing his sentiments on X on Friday, Altman shared, “I loved my time at OpenAI. It transformed my life and, ultimately, made a small impact on the world. Working with incredibly talented individuals was a true privilege. More details on what lies ahead will be shared soon.”
OpenAI has access to a portion of AP’s archives through a licensing and technology agreement established between The Associated Press and the company.
In 2015, Altman played a pivotal role in establishing OpenAI as a voluntary research institution. However, Altman rose to prominence as an advocate of relational AI—technology capable of generating original images, text passages, and other media—during ChatGPT’s surge into the public eye. During a global tour, he was surrounded by enthusiastic onlookers in London.
At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit on Thursday, November 16, 2023, in San Francisco, a photo shows Sam Altman participating in a discussion. The board of OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, announced the termination of Altman, the company’s co-founder and CEO, and the appointment of an interim CEO (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File).
Altman has engaged with various world leaders to discuss the risks and potential of AI. He attended a CEO conference at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, where OpenAI is headquartered, just the day before.
He asserted that AI represents “the most significant leap forward of any of the major industrial revolutions we’ve experienced.” While acknowledging the necessity for safeguards, he also highlighted the potential existential threats posed by future AI developments.
Some experts argue that focusing on distant risks detracts attention from the limitations and harms of existing AI applications in the real world. If OpenAI accessed open data and disseminated inaccurate information through its chatbot, it might have violated consumer protection regulations, as per a U.S. Federal Trade Commission investigation.
The company’s board includes Ilya Sutskever, the chief scientist of OpenAI, along with three external members: Adam D’Angelo, CEO of Quora, tech investor Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner from the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology.
Microsoft, a significant business partner of OpenAI that has invested billions in the startup and provided the computing power for its AI systems, stated that the leadership change will not impact their relationship.
As we usher in this new era of Artificial Intelligence for our customers, Microsoft reaffirms its support for Mira and her team, maintaining a longstanding partnership with OpenAI.
Despite lacking formal training in AI, Altman, now 38, has been hailed as a prodigy in Silicon Valley since his early twenties. In 2014, he was recruited to lead the YCombinator startup accelerator.
Upon learning that Altman would lead the company, YCombinator co-founder Paul Graham remarked in 2014, “Sam is one of the smartest people I know, and his understanding of businesses surpasses that of anyone else I know, including myself.” Graham described Altman as someone who excelled in both effectiveness and benevolence.
Initially established as a volunteer initiative with funding from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and others, OpenAI’s mission was to “advance digital intelligence in a manner most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by the need for financial gain.”
In 2018, the organization underwent a transformation when it incorporated a for-profit entity named Open AI LP and relocated most of its staff there after unveiling the GPT language model for simulating human text. Musk, who co-chaired the board with Altman, announced his departure around the same time. This move was intended to avoid potential conflicts with Tesla’s pursuits in self-driving technology.
Despite the board’s decision to retain its volunteer governance structure, the entity overseeing OpenAI has been progressively leveraging its technology by adapting its popular chatbot for commercial clients.
Altman delivered the keynote address at the organization’s inaugural engineering conference last week, outlining his vision for an AI-driven future that could aid individuals in various tasks. Shortly after, he announced that the advanced version of ChatGPT would cease accepting new subscriptions due to capacity constraints.
Arun Chandrasekaran, a researcher at Gartner, expressed that Altman’s exit “is certainly unsettling given his role in conceptual AI technology.”
He noted that while OpenAI boasts a “deep bench of capable leaders,” the incoming executives will need to navigate the company through the challenges of expansion while meeting societal and regulatory expectations.
Rowan Curran, an analyst at Forrester, mentioned that Altman’s departure, though unexpected, is unlikely to signal deeper business issues.
According to Curran, “This seems to be a case of a leadership change addressing issues with the individual rather than the underlying technology or company.”
Altman has several ventures lined up for the future. Despite his tenure at OpenAI, he has invested significantly in ambitious projects.
Among these ventures are Helion Energy, focused on developing fusion reactors to harness vast energy from hydrogen in water, and Retro Biosciences, which aims to extend human lifespan by a decade using biotechnology. Additionally, Altman co-founded Worldcoin, a genetic and cryptocurrency initiative that scans individuals’ irises to establish an extensive online identity and financial network.
