OpenAI announced that it has "reached an agreement in principle" for Sam Altman's reinstatement, and the developer of ChatGPT is expected to return to his role as CEO.
Following several days of internal drama following Altman's unexpected termination on Friday, the San Francisco-based company finally made the news. Almost all of OpenAI's 750 employees had threatened to quit if the company's board did not reinstate Altman and then resign.
Bret Taylor, the former co-CEO of software company Salesforce, is leading a new-look board as part of the agreement that was negotiated overnight. It will include former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers as well as current board member and tech entrepreneur Adam D'Angelo, who was involved in Altman's firing, the Guardian reported.
“We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo. We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this,” wrote OpenAI on its official account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Altman posted soon after: “I love OpenAI, and everything I’ve done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together.” He added: “I’m looking forward to returning to OpenAI.”
The board of the nonprofit organisation that founded OpenAI, which is in charge of the 38-year-old's business division, dismissed Altman on Friday. It is reported that he had made his return contingent on the board's dismissal and a reorganisation of OpenAI's governance.
The largest investor in OpenAI, Microsoft, has been advocating for Altman's return. It hired Altman and Greg Brockman, the president of OpenAI, on Monday. Brockman resigned on Friday following the dismissal of his colleague, and observers saw this as granting the former CEO a de facto leadership position over his previous business. Additionally, Brockman said on X on Monday that he would be going back to OpenAI.
On Monday, OpenAI informed employees that it was having "intense discussions" to bring Altman back.
“We are continuing to go over mutually acceptable options, and are scheduled to speak again tomorrow morning when everyone’s had a little more sleep,” wrote Anna Makanju, vice president of global affairs, in a memo. “These intense discussions can drag out, and I know it can feel impossible to be patient.”
Altman will become OpenAI's fourth CEO in five days if his return is confirmed. The company's chief technical officer, Mira Murati, took over as interim CEO when he was first removed, and the board subsequently appointed Twitch co-founder Emmet Shear as a temporary replacement. According to reports, OpenAI will carry out a separate investigation of Altman's termination and the events that followed.
The board of OpenAI fired Altman last week for not being "candid in his communications," although it did not elaborate on the specific communication in question. Although there were broader worries expressed by experts that AI development was moving too quickly, Shear refuted the idea that Altman's dismissal was related to safety issues.