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In case you didn’t know, OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, was fired from the company on Friday. This news took the tech world and even Altman by surprise. Well, it seems that the board has had a change of heart, as they are all in talks with Altman to return to the company just one day after the ousting.
On Friday, Altman was ejected from his role, and OpenAI said that it was because he “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.” That’s not the clearest answer, and we can’t take public-facing company statements at face value.
In any case, since he’s been fired, OpenAI’s President and former board member Greg Brockman quit his position. According to the report, he and Altman were talking to investors about starting another company. This was all over the course of a weekend.
Sam Altman might return to OpenAI… but he has demands
Since his firing, the company has since reached out to him to return to the company, several sources told The Verge. The plan was originally to have the company’s chief technology officer, Mira Murati, take over as the CEO temporarily until the company can find a replacement. However, just a day after Altman was fired, the company has been looking to bring him back.
We’re not sure if he’s going to be returning or not; however, he has demands. Reports say that Altman wants “governance changes” if he returns. We’re not sure what those changes are, but we might have an idea. A source close to Altman says that the board agreed to resign by a 5PM PST deadline to make way for Altman and Brockman to return. This makes it sound like his condition for returning was clearing out the board. However, the board missed that deadline. So, we’re not sure what’s going to happen at this point.
This drama is going to continue
We don’t know what’s going on with the company now, but the last we heard of it, it was heading toward bankruptcy. That was not too long ago, so the company’s fortunes might not have changed all that much. With the financial drama, no CEO, and no president, OpenAI’s future looked grim. The company was most likely falling to pieces in the hours after Altman was fired. This could be the reason why the company was quick to ask for him back.
Microsoft told The Verge that it’s still committed to supporting OpenAI, Altman or no Altman. However, being an investor in the company, an executive change like this with no warning will make Microsoft keep its eyes on the company. This should go for all investors, as the company seems to be stumbling.
We’ll keep you up to date on what’s going on with the company as this story develops.