ChatGPT makers
AI chaos continues: Sam Altman moves to Microsoft, OpenAI appoints new CEO
He was considered the face and most important man behind ChatGPT – the expulsion of Sam Altman surprised an entire industry
© Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images
Before the weekend, no one would have expected Sam Altman to lose his job as OpenAI CEO – what followed was a complete mess. In the meantime it was said that Altman was even returning. But things turned out differently.
On Sunday it seemed as if there was gigantic chaos at ChatGPT developer OpenAI due to the dismissal of its ex-CEO Sam Altman’s outburst was short-lived: with a guest pass in hand, the undisputed face of the company reported to X, formerly Twitter, and apparently arrived at his former employer for negotiations. He confidently wrote: “The first and last time I’ll wear something like this” – meaning the anonymous guest pass for access to the OpenAI offices.
Altman alluded to rumors that the company that had thrown him out just hours earlier is interested in his return. Altman certainly had a lot of support on his side – it is said that major investor Microsoft was completely shocked that Altman lost his position (find out more here).
OpenAI appoints external CEO – Altman stays outside
But as “The Information” reports, Altman is not returning after all. Despite hours of negotiations, the board of directors decided against him. They gave the top job to an external candidate who no one had expected yet. The new head of OpenAI is to be the former head of the streaming service Twitch, Emmett Shear.
This means that Mira Murati’s time as interim CEO of the company ends – after exactly two days. After taking over the post, Murati appeared to be a supporter of Altman, which may not have pleased the board of directors. The four most powerful people at the helm of the company remain committed to separating OpenAI and Altman. He was originally accused of behavioral errors and non-transparent communication.
Altman thus becomes a victim of his own structure, because when he founded his company, he set it up in such a way that the board of directors was given a corresponding amount of power. As “Wired” reports, this was actually supposed to be for security purposes – because whoever was inside was only allowed to invest to a limited extent. This should prevent them from losing sight of their “mission to safely develop artificial general intelligence for the benefit of all humanity.”
It is suspected that this could also be why Altman was deposed. “Wired” quotes a source from corporate circles who was apparently surprised that the board of directors appears to consist of “activists.” Altman is said to have increasingly tried to make money with products like ChatGPT – that would be a break with the beginnings of the company, which once started as an idealistic foundation.
Sam Altman moves to Microsoft
Shortly after the apparently final change at the top of OpenAI became known, it became public what would happen next for Altman. While Altman himself only writes on X: “The mission continues”, Microsoft boss Satya Nadella spoke up with somewhat more detailed information.
Nadella writes: “We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap. […] We look forward to meeting and working with Emmett Shear and OpenAI’s new leadership team.”
What’s more exciting, however, is what follows – because apparently Altman and Nadella talked to each other a lot over the weekend. The Microsoft boss added: “And we are very pleased with the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, along with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new Advanced AI Research Team. We look forward to getting them involved quickly resources necessary for their success.”
This looks like a big win for Microsoft. Not only was it possible to secure the planned products with OpenAI, but we also managed to get the former most important man and a very loyal team on board. In this way, Microsoft secures direct influence on their work, which was possible to a limited extent as an investor in OpenAI, but was not the case to this extent. Former OpenAI chairman Greg Brockman is also leaving for Microsoft.
Microsoft shares, which initially fell noticeably due to Altman’s dismissal from OpenAI, are apparently already on the road to recovery due to the news.
What happens next for OpenAI remains to be seen. With Altman’s departure, the company quickly lost a number of very important and renowned people, as they decided without much thought to resign from their positions and follow Altman.
In addition, according to “The Verge”, the new CEO Emmett Shear does not seem to have any experience in the scene and the choice of the OpenAI board of directors is therefore “a surprise”.
Sources: X (Twitter), The Information, Wired, X (Twitter) [2], X (Twitter) [3], Verge