95% of OpenAI workers have threatened to quit if Sam Altman is not reinstated as CEO

Marc Benioff of Salesforce posted on X he'd offer "full cash & equity OTE" to any OpenAI researcher who resigned to immediately join his company's AI project. Following Sam Altman's ouster at OpenAI, Marc Benioff of Salesforce offered to buy out the contracts of any OpenAI researchers who resigned to join Salesforce.Getty ImagesMarc Benioff promised to match the contracts of OpenAI researchers who resign to join Salesforce.In a post on X, he pledged "full cash & equity OTE" in exchange for immediately joining his company.The offer comes amid the chaotic ouster of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and rumors Altman could return to the job.As OpenAI bleeds talent following Friday's chaotic ouster of Sam Altman, Marc Benioff of Salesforce wants to make a deal."Salesforce will match any OpenAI researcher who has tendered their resignation full cash & equity OTE to immediately join our Salesforce Einstein Trusted AI research team under Silvio Savarese," Benioff, the Salesforce CEO, posted on X in a pledge to buy out the OpenAI researchers' contracts, along with any unrealized profits and sales incentives.He added: "Send me your cv directly to ceo@salesforce.com. Einstein is the most successful enterprise AI Platform completing 1 Trillion predictive & generative transactions this week! Join our Trusted AI Enterprise Revolution."Earlier this year, Business Insider reported research engineers at OpenAI were offered $200,000 to $370,000 in base compensation, though some senior researchers can make upwards of $800,000 per The New York Times.Benioff did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.His offer — which prompted many joking replies from people aiming to take him up on it — comes as OpenAI is hemorrhaging top talent following the news of Altman's ouster.Greg Brockman, former president of OpenAI, announced his departure after the news broke on Friday, along with key staffers Jakub Pachocki, Szymon Sidor, and Aleksander Madry.As many as 95% of OpenAI workers have also threatened to quit if Altman, the company's co-founder, is not reinstated.Salesforce's Einstein is the company's generative AI program built for managing relationships with customers.The program — led by Savarese, the company's chief scientist and adjunct professor of computer science at Stanford — uses machine learning to develop marketing campaigns, answer emails and support chats, and give sales recommendations based on analyzing data stored in Salesforce products.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

More than 95% of OpenAI staff have threatened to quit unless all current board members resign and reappoint ex-CEO Sam Altman. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was fired by the company's board on Friday.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty ImagesNearly the entire OpenAI staff has threatened to quit and join Sam Altman at Microsoft.They signed a letter that also calls on the board to resign after they "undermined our company."It follows days of chaos at OpenAI after CEO Sam Altman was fired in a shock move.    Nearly all OpenAI staff members have threatened to quit unless all board members resign and ex-CEO Sam Altman is reappointed, according to the latest count of staffers who have signed a letter demanding his return.The number of employees who have signed has been rising through the day on Monday — and now includes nearly all of OpenAI's workforce of 770, according to a tally by a reporter at CBS News.In the letter to the board, OpenAI employees — including CTO Mira Murati and COO Brad Lightcap — said that the firing of Altman had "jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and company" and that they would quit and join the ex-OpenAI CEO at Microsoft if the board did not resign.The letter was first reported by Wired on Monday and shared by tech journalist Kara Swisher online, who also said that the list of signees is growing."Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAI," the letter said.The letter's signatories include OpenAI's chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who posted on X that he "deeply regretted" being part of the move to oust Altman.Jan Leike, the co-lead of OpenAI's "superalignment" team with Sutskever, also posted on X: "I think the OpenAI board should resign" — words that appear to have become another rallying call of OpenAI staff, with others posting the same statement on X.The letter to the board also said that Murati, who was initially named the interim CEO, was also replaced "against the best interests of the company."The letter to the board is the latest development after a weekend of chaos and confusion at the AI startup. Late on Sunday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Altman and former OpenAI president Greg Brockman would be joining a new AI team at Microsoft, after efforts by investors and current employees to bring him back as OpenAI CEO fell apart.OpenAI subsequently appointed Emmett Shear, a former CEO of Twitch and advocate of slower AI development, as its interim CEO.But the company's board has been dealing with an enormous backlash from employees over the way Altman's exit was handled, with several quitting to follow him to Microsoft and public displays of support being posted on X.In its initial statement announcing Altman's firing, the board said that he had not been "consistently candid," and that it no longer had confidence in his ability to run the company.OpenAI and Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

About 650 OpenAI staff have threatened to quit unless all current board members resign and reappoint ex-CEO Sam Altman. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was fired by the company's board on Friday.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty ImagesAt least two-thirds of OpenAI staff have threatened to quit and join Sam Altman at Microsoft.Their letter also calls on all board members to resign after they "undermined our company."It follows days of chaos at OpenAI after CEO Sam Altman was fired in a shock move.    About 650 OpenAI staff members have threatened to quit unless all board members resign and ex-CEO Sam Altman is reappointed, according to the latest count of staffers who have signed a letter demanding his return.The number of employees who have signed has been rising — and is a huge majority of OpenAI's workforce of 770, according to a staffer who's posting on X about the letter.In the letter to the board, OpenAI employees — including CTO Mira Murati and COO Brad Lightcap — said that the firing of Altman had "jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and company" and that they would quit and join the ex-OpenAI CEO at Microsoft if the board did not resign.The letter was first reported by Wired on Monday and shared by tech journalist Kara Swisher online, who also said that the list of signees is growing."Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAI," the letter said.The letter's signatories include OpenAI's chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who posted on X that he "deeply regretted" being part of the move to oust Altman.Jan Leike, the co-lead of OpenAI's "superalignment" team with Sutskever, also posted on X: "I think the OpenAI board should resign" — words that appear to have become another rallying call of OpenAI staff, with others posting the same statement on X.The letter to the board also said that Murati, who was initially named the interim CEO, was also replaced "against the best interests of the company."The letter to the board is the latest development after a weekend of chaos and confusion at the AI startup. Late on Sunday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Altman and former OpenAI president Greg Brockman would be joining a new AI team at Microsoft, after efforts by investors and current employees to bring him back as OpenAI CEO fell apart.OpenAI subsequently appointed Emmett Shear, a former CEO of Twitch and advocate of slower AI development, as its interim CEO.But the company's board has been dealing with an enormous backlash from employees over the way Altman's exit was handled, with several quitting to follow him to Microsoft and public displays of support being posted on X.In its initial statement announcing Altman's firing, the board said that he had not been "consistently candid," and that it no longer had confidence in his ability to run the company.OpenAI and Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Nearly 500 OpenAI staff have threatened to quit unless all current board members resign and reappoint ex-CEO Sam Altman. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was fired by the company's board on Friday.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty ImagesAt least two-thirds of OpenAI staff have threatened to quit and join Sam Altman at Microsoft.Their letter also calls on all board members to resign after they "undermined our company."It follows days of chaos at OpenAI after CEO Sam Altman was fired in a shock move.    Nearly 500 OpenAI staff have threatened to quit unless all board members resign and ex-CEO Sam Altman is reappointed.In a letter to the board, 490 OpenAI employees, including CTO Mira Murati and COO Brad Lightcap, said that the firing of Altman had "jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and company" and that they would quit and join the ex-OpenAI CEO at Microsoft if the board did not resign.The letter was first reported by Wired on Monday and shared by tech journalist Kara Swisher online, who said that the list of signees is growing."Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAI," the letter said.The letter's signatories include OpenAI's chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who posted on X that he "deeply regretted" being part of the move to oust Altman.Jan Leike, the co-lead of OpenAI's "superalignment" team with Sutskever, also posted on X: "I think the OpenAI board should resign" — words that appear to have become another rallying call of OpenAI staff, with others posting the same statement on X.The letter to the board also said that Murati, who was initially named the interim CEO, was also replaced "against the best interests of the company."The letter to the board is the latest development after a weekend of chaos and confusion at the AI startup. Late on Sunday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Altman and former OpenAI president Greg Brockman would be joining a new AI team at Microsoft, after efforts by investors and current employees to bring him back as OpenAI CEO fell apart.OpenAI subsequently appointed Emmett Shear, a former CEO of Twitch and advocate of slower AI development, as its interim CEO.But the company's board has been dealing with an enormous backlash from employees over the way Altman's exit was handled, with several quitting to follow him to Microsoft and public displays of support being posted on X.In its initial statement announcing Altman's firing, the board said that he had not been "consistently candid," and that it no longer had confidence in his ability to run the company.OpenAI and Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Nearly 500 OpenAI staff have threatened to quit unless all current board members resign and reappoint ex-CEO Sam Altman. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was fired by the company's board on Friday.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty ImagesAt least two-thirds of OpenAI staff have threatened to quit and join Sam Altman at Microsoft.Their letter also calls on all current board members to resign after they "undermined our company."It follows days of chaos at OpenAI after CEO Sam Altman was fired in a shock move.    Nearly 500 OpenAI staff have threatened to quit unless all current board members resign and ex-CEO Sam Altman is reappointed.In a letter to the board, 490 OpenAI employees, including CTO Mira Murati and COO Brad Lightcap, said that the firing of Altman had "jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and company" and that they would quit and join the ex-OpenAI CEO at Microsoft if the board did not resign. The letter was first reported by Wired on Monday and shared by tech journalist Kara Swisher online, who said that the list of signees is growing."Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAI," the letter said.The letter's signatories include OpenAI's chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who posted on X that he "deeply regretted" being part of the move to oust Altman.Jan Leike, the co-lead of OpenAI's "superalignment" team with Sutskever, also posted on X: "I think the OpenAI board should resign" — words that appear to have become another rallying call of OpenAI staff, with others posting the same statement on X.The letter to the board also said that Murati, who was initially named as the interim CEO, was also replaced "against the best interests of the company."The letter to the board is the latest development after a weekend of chaos and confusion at the AI startup. Late on Sunday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Altman and former OpenAI president Greg Brockman would be joining a new AI team at Microsoft, after efforts by investors and current employees to bring him back as OpenAI CEO fell apart.OpenAI subsequently appointed Emmett Shear, a former CEO of Twitch and advocate of slower AI development, as its interim CEO.But the company's board has been dealing with an enormous backlash from employees over the way Altman's exit was handled, with several quitting to follow him to Microsoft and public displays of support being posted on X.In its initial statement announcing Altman's firing, the board said that he had not been "consistently candid," and that it no longer had confidence in his ability to run the company.OpenAI and Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Sam Altman's ousting from OpenAI set off a dramatic chain of events, resulting in his eventual return. Here's what we know. Sam Altman got pushed out of OpenAI.Toby Melville/Getty ImagesOpenAI CEO Sam Altman was suddenly ousted by the company's board earlier in November.Within a week, he was back and a new board that included lead investor Microsoft was announced.The tech world is still wondering what led to the shock firing.Sam Altman is back in control of OpenAI and the CEO has a brand new board.The tech boss was fired in a shock board decision earlier this month, kickstarting a chaotic week for the company.The move initially shocked the tech community and OpenAI investors, including Microsoft. Reports quickly started circulating that the board was wavering on its controversial decision and actively trying to get Altman back.Three days later, it all appeared to have fallen apart. Former Twitch CEO and cofounder, Emmett Shear, was named interim CEO of the company, and Altman had joined Microsoft.But the chaos was far from over.Most employees who returned to work after the weekend were less than impressed with the new company leadership.Staffers staged a revolt in the form of an open letter demanding the board's resignation and the reinstatement of their former chief. By the end of the day, nearly all employees at the company had added their names.Negotiations between OpenAI and Altman were restarted and last week the company announced he was set to return as CEO. Altman's return also came with a new board that included lead investor Microsoft.Here's a timeline of everything we know so far:Altman was ousted from OpenAI in a shock board decisionAltman was immediately ousted from OpenAI in a dramatic board decision on Friday. The nonprofit board of the company announced it no longer had "confidence in his ability to continue leading."A timeline provided by fellow OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman showed that Altman received a text from board member Ilya Sutskever asking to talk at midday Friday.When Altman joined the meeting, the whole board, excluding Brockman, was on the call and he was told by Sutskever he was being fired, per Brockman's post.OpenAI staffers resignedBrockman, the former OpenAI president and cofounder, quit his role at the company shortly after the news broke. He said he was told that he was being removed from the board and that Altman had been fired at about the same time OpenAI published a blog post about the incident.Brockman said he was originally told he was "vital to the company and would retain his role," but decided to part ways with the company shortly after.The tech community was shocked by the decision, and at least three other OpenAI researchers followed the former president in giving up their roles.The OpenAI board was optimistic about getting Altman backInvestors, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, were reportedly blindsided by the decision to remove Altman.Several investors began pushing the board members to reverse their sudden leadership decision, Bloomberg reported.In an internal memo cited by The Information, OpenAI's chief strategy officer, Jason Kwon, wrote to staff late Saturday night, saying the company remained optimistic that it could bring back Altman and other senior employees who had left.Microsoft chief Nadella reportedly led the high-stakes talks on Altman's return over the weekend.On Sunday, the former OpenAI chief returned to the company's HQ. He posted a picture of himself wearing a guest badge captioned, "First and last time I ever wear one of these."Discussions fell apart and a new CEO was announcedThe Information reported that on Sunday night, Sutskever told OpenAI staffers that Altman would not return, prompting several more employees to quit.Discussions to bring Altman back had reportedly fallen apart, per The Verge. The board then named former Twitch CEO and cofounder Emmett Shear as interim CEO. Shear took over the role from OpenAI's former CTO Mira Murati, who had publicly supported Altman.Altman and Brockman joined MicrosoftIn a dramatic twist, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella scooped up Altman and Brockman to lead "a new advanced AI research team" at Microsoft.In a post on X, Brockman said the new Microsoft team would comprise him, Altman, Aleksander Madry, Szymon Sidor, and Jakub Pachocki. He said the team planned to "build something new" and "incredible."Nadella announced on Monday the company remained "committed to our partnership with OpenAI" and had "confidence in our product roadmap."A key board member said he regretted ousting AltmanOpenAI cofounder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever said on Monday he deeply regretted his involvement in firing Altman.Many had theorized that Sutskever had a major role in the decision, with reports highlighting the differing priorities between Altman and the nonprofit board."I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI," Sutskever said in an X post Monday. "I love everything we've built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company."The chief scientist also added his name to an open letter calling for the board, which he sits on, to resign.Employees staged a revoltMost employees returning to work on Monday were unhappy with the chaos the OpenAI board had kickstarted.Former CTO Mira Murati was installed as interim CEO, following Altman's departure. CEO Emmett Shear, who cofounded Twitch, then took over from her. This meant the company had three CEOs in as many days.The majority of OpenAI staffers just wanted Altman back.By the end of the day, nearly the entire OpenAI staff had threatened to quit and join Altman at Microsoft. They signed a letter calling the board to resign, accusing members of undermining the company.Altman's return rumoured to still be on the cardsDespite publically joining Microsoft that morning, by Monday evening, Altman was reportedly still considering returning to his old post at the AI lab.The Verge reported that Altman and Brockman were considering going back to OpenAI if the board members who ousted Altman stepped down.Multiple sources told the outlet that Altman, along with Brockman and OpenAI's investors, were trying to find a plan for board members to exit the company.Altman and Brockman set to return to OpenAIOn Tuesday night Pacific Standard Time, OpenAI confirmed that Altman was set to return as CEO.The ChatGPT said in a post on X they "reached an agreement in principle" for Altman's return.Shortly after OpenAI broke the news, Altman reflected on his decision to join Microsoft, saying he thought "it was clear that was the best path for me and the team."He continued: "With the new board and w satya's support, i'm looking forward to returning to openai, and building on our strong partnership with msft."Nadella also commented on the move, adding Microsoft was "encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board."OpenAI also announced a "new initial board" consisting of Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo. Taylor, a former Salesforce executive, will serve as board chair.Microsoft snags a board seatMicrosoft announced on Wednesday that the company was getting a non-voting board seat.There had been speculation that Satya Nadella would seek more control over OpenAI following the board's failed coup.The CEO was reportedly frustrated by the board's lack of communication during the firing and re-hiring of Altman, later telling journalist Kara Swisher he did not plan to be surprised by the company again.In a message to employees posted on the company's website, re-instated CEO Altman said: "We clearly made the right choice to partner with Microsoft and I'm excited that our new board will include them as a non-voting observer."One board member speaks outFormer OpenAI board member Helen Toner announced her resignation from the company on Wednesday.In a post on X, Toner sought to quell rumors the board was attempting to slow some of OpenAI's work.She said: "To be clear: our decision was about the board's ability to effectively supervise the company, which was our role and responsibility. Though there has been speculation, we were not motivated by a desire to slow down OpenAI's work."Several reports had pointed to a mysterious new OpenAI model known as Q* as a potential trigger for the chaos. The model is said to have sparked concern at the startup.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Sutskever previously voted to fire Altman as OpenAI's CEO in a boardroom coup. Altman's now back as OpenAI's boss. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (left) and the company's chief scientist Ilya Sutskever (right).Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images; Jack Guez/AFP via Getty ImagesOpenAI's Sam Altman says he has "zero ill will" towards cofounder Ilya Sutskever.Sutskever, a former OpenAI board member, had previously voted to fire Altman as CEO.Sutskever later expressed regret for his actions, saying that he "never intended to harm OpenAI."OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says he has no hard feelings towards former board member Ilya Sutskever.Sutskever, who co-founded OpenAI with Altman, voted to fire Altman. Altman has since been reinstated as CEO."I love and respect Ilya, I think he's a guiding light of the field and a gem of a human being. I harbor zero ill will towards him," Altman said in a message to the company on Wednesday.Sutskever was concerned that Altman hadn't given enough thought to the risks of OpenAI's technology, per a story from The New York Times on November 18.The OpenAI chief scientist also formed a "Super Alignment" team within OpenAI to ensure that future versions of GPT-4, the technology behind ChatGPT, wouldn't pose a danger to humanity, according to The Times.But Sutskever later expressed remorse for ousting Altman."I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI," he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on November 20.Altman eventually returned as CEO after nearly all of OpenAI's staff threatened to quit unless he was brought back.However, Sutskever didn't attend the impromptu party that employees organized to celebrate Altman's return."You shouldn't read anything into the fact that Ilya was not at the party last night. Ilya wants what is best for the company and has been very clear that what is best is having Sam back as CEO," Sutskever's lawyer Alex Weingarten told Business Insider last week.Besides reinstating Altman, OpenAI welcomed a new initial board comprising Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo.Taylor, who is OpenAI's new board chair, said on Wednesday that OpenAI backer Microsoft would be given a non-voting board observer seat."While Ilya will no longer serve on the board, we hope to continue our working relationship and are discussing how he can continue his work at OpenAI," Altman told the company on the same day.Representatives for OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

"I learned that the company can truly function without me," Altman told The Verge's Alex Heath. JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty ImagesSam Altman has a hot take on his brief ouster as OpenAI's CEO."I learned that the company can truly function without me," Altman told The Verge's Alex Heath.Altman told Heath that this meant he's either "picked great leaders" or "mentored them well." Sam Altman, the briefly fired and quickly rehired CEO of OpenAI, has a hot take about his short stint away from the company.Speaking to The Verge's Alex Heath, Altman said he was happy to be back — and that the firing, and how OpenAI functioned in his absence, wasn't too bad after all."I learned that the company can truly function without me, and that's a very nice thing," Altman told Heath in a phone call on Wednesday.Altman added that he was now back at OpenAI without the "stress" and the burden of thinking that he had to do certain things, or that he was vital to the company's survival."I selfishly feel good because either I picked great leaders or I mentored them well," Altman said. "It's very nice to feel like the company will be totally fine without me, and the team is ready and has leveled up."Altman's ouster from OpenAI on November 17 came after the company's board voted to fire him, saying he was not "consistently candid in his communications" with them.The coup against Altman lasted all of five days. He returned as CEO last Wednesday, after nearly all of the company's staff threatened to quit unless the board was axed and Altman reinstated as OpenAI's leader.Altman told Heath that his first reaction to being asked by the board to return as OpenAI's CEO was "sort of one of defiance.""It was like, 'Man, I'm hurt and angry, and I think this sucks,'" Altman told Heath. "And then pretty immediately I started thinking about like, obviously, I really loved the company and had poured my life force into this for the last four and a half years full time, but really longer than that with most of my time.""It took me a few minutes to snap out of it and get over the ego and emotions to then be like, 'Yeah, of course I want to do that,'" Altman said of his return.The biggest question that remains is why Altman was fired in the first place. During his call with Heath, Altman skirted a question on the matter, saying that the company's new board is "gonna do an independent review.""I think it's very important to let this review process run. I'm happy to talk about anything forward looking," Altman said. "And I imagine there'll be some time where I'm very happy to talk about what happened here, but not now."Representatives for Altman at OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Helen Toner announced her resignation from the OpenAI board on Wednesday. Former OpenAI board member, Helen Toner (left) and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (right).Jerod Harris via Getty Images; Justin Sullivan via Getty ImagesFormer OpenAI board member Helen Toner has announced her resignation. Toner said that the board wasn't trying to slow down OpenAI's work by firing CEO Sam Altman.Altman was eventually brought back as CEO after most of OpenAI's staff threatened to quit.Former OpenAI board member Helen Toner says the board wasn't trying to stifle the company's progress by removing CEO Sam Altman.Toner, a director at Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology, announced her resignation from the board on Wednesday. She had previously voted for Altman's firing."Though there has been speculation, we were not motivated by a desire to slow down OpenAI's work," Toner wrote in an X post on the same day.To be clear: our decision was about the board's ability to effectively supervise the company, which was our role and responsibility. Though there has been speculation, we were not motivated by a desire to slow down OpenAI’s work.3/5— Helen Toner (@hlntnr) November 30, 2023 Altman was briefly ousted from his position as OpenAI's chief executive.The 38-year-old was fired on 17 November, with the board saying in a statement that Altman "was not consistently candid in his communications" with them.The board didn't provide further details on Altman's ouster, though it was widely speculated that it was because of their concerns over his aggressive approach toward AI innovation.The abruptness of Altman's departure, however, wasn't well received by OpenAI's employees. Nearly all of the company's staff threatened to quit unless the board resigned and Altman was reinstated.After a chaotic few days, which saw Altman first accepting an offer to lead Microsoft's new advanced AI research team, Altman finally returned as CEO last Wednesday.Aside from bringing back Altman, OpenAI welcomed a new initial board comprising Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo.Taylor was announced as the new board chair. The former Salesforce executive said on Wednesday that OpenAI partner Microsoft would be given a non-voting board observer seat.OpenAI's previous board included Toner, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley and OpenAI's chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. Representatives for Toner and Altman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Sam Altman's ousting from OpenAI set off a dramatic chain of events, resulting in his eventual return. Here's what we know. Sam Altman got pushed out of OpenAI.Toby Melville/Getty ImagesSam Altman got pushed out as OpenAI CEO last Friday.He was ousted by the company's board, kickstarting days of chaos.On Tuesday, OpenAI announced Altman was coming back. Here's a timeline of the events at OpenAI. Sam Altman is heading back to OpenAI after a chaotic few days.The tech boss was fired in a shock board decision on Friday, kickstarting a chaotic weekend.The move shocked the tech community and OpenAI investors, including Microsoft. Initial reports quickly started circulating that the board was wavering on its controversial decision and actively trying to get Altman back.By Monday, it all appeared to have fallen apart. Former Twitch CEO and cofounder, Emmett Shear, was named interim CEO of the company, and Altman had joined Microsoft.But the chaos was far from over.Most employees who returned to work on Monday were less than impressed with the new company leadership.Staffers staged a revolt in the form of an open letter demanding the board's resignation and the reinstatement of their former chief. By the end of the day, nearly all employees at the company had added their names.Negotiations between the OpenAI and Altman were restarted and by Tuesday night the company had announced he was set to return as CEO.Here's a timeline of everything we know so far:Altman was ousted from OpenAI in a shock board decisionAltman was immediately ousted from OpenAI in a dramatic board decision on Friday. The nonprofit board of the company announced it no longer had "confidence in his ability to continue leading."A timeline provided by fellow OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman showed that Altman received a text from board member Ilya Sutskever asking to talk at midday Friday.When Altman joined the meeting, the whole board, excluding Brockman, was on the call and he was told by Sutskever he was being fired, per Brockman's post.OpenAI staffers resignedBrockman, the former OpenAI president and cofounder, quit his role at the company shortly after the news broke. He said he was told that he was being removed from the board and that Altman had been fired at about the same time OpenAI published a blog post about the incident.Brockman said he was originally told he was "vital to the company and would retain his role," but decided to part ways with the company shortly after.The tech community was shocked by the decision, and at least three other OpenAI researchers followed the former president in giving up their roles.The OpenAI board was optimistic about getting Altman backInvestors, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, were reportedly blindsided by the decision to remove Altman.Several investors began pushing the board members to reverse their sudden leadership decision, Bloomberg reported.In an internal memo cited by The Information, OpenAI's chief strategy officer, Jason Kwon, wrote to staff late Saturday night, saying the company remained optimistic that it could bring back Altman and other senior employees who had left.Microsoft chief Nadella reportedly led the high-stakes talks on Altman's return over the weekend.On Sunday, the former OpenAI chief returned to the company's HQ. He posted a picture of himself wearing a guest badge captioned, "First and last time I ever wear one of these."Discussions fell apart and a new CEO was announcedThe Information reported that on Sunday night, Sutskever told OpenAI staffers that Altman would not return, prompting several more employees to quit.Discussions to bring Altman back had reportedly fallen apart, per The Verge. The board then named former Twitch CEO and cofounder Emmett Shear as interim CEO. Shear took over the role from OpenAI's former CTO Mira Murati, who had publicly supported Altman.Altman and Brockman joined MicrosoftIn a dramatic twist, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella scooped up Altman and Brockman to lead "a new advanced AI research team" at Microsoft.In a post on X, Brockman said the new Microsoft team would comprise him, Altman, Aleksander Madry, Szymon Sidor, and Jakub Pachocki. He said the team planned to "build something new" and "incredible."Nadella announced on Monday the company remained "committed to our partnership with OpenAI" and had "confidence in our product roadmap."A key board member said he regretted ousting AltmanOpenAI cofounder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever said on Monday he deeply regretted his involvement in firing Altman.Many had theorized that Sutskever had a major role in the decision, with reports highlighting the differing priorities between Altman and the nonprofit board."I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI," Sutskever said in an X post Monday. "I love everything we've built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company."The chief scientist also added his name to an open letter calling for the board, which he sits on, to resign.Employees staged a revoltMost employees returning to work on Monday were unhappy with the chaos the OpenAI board had kickstarted.Former CTO Mira Murati was installed as interim CEO, following Altman's departure. CEO Emmett Shear, who cofounded Twitch, then took over from her. This meant the company had three CEOs in as many days.The majority of OpenAI staffers just wanted Altman back.By the end of the day, nearly the entire OpenAI staff had threatened to quit and join Altman at Microsoft. They signed a letter calling the board to resign, accusing members of undermining the company.Altman's return might still be on the cardsDespite publically joining Microsoft that morning, by Monday evening, Altman was reportedly still considering returning to his old post at the AI lab.The Verge reported that Altman and Brockman were considering going back to OpenAI if the board members who ousted Altman stepped down.Multiple sources told the outlet that Altman, along with Brockman and OpenAI's investors, were trying to find a plan for board members to exit the company.Altman and Brockman set to return to OpenAIOn Tuesday night Pacific Standard Time, OpenAI confirmed that Altman was set to return as CEO.The ChatGPT said in a post on X they "reached an agreement in principle" for Altman's return.Shortly after OpenAI broke the news, Altman reflected on his decision to join Microsoft, saying he thought "it was clear that was the best path for me and the team."He continued: "With the new board and w satya's support, i'm looking forward to returning to openai, and building on our strong partnership with msft."Nadella also commented on the move, adding Microsoft was "encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board."OpenAI also announced a "new initial board" consisting of Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo. Taylor, a former Salesforce executive, will serve as board chair.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

The company also said it will overhaul its board to bring on new directors, including Bret Taylor, who previously held positions at Salesforce and Twitter, and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. OpenAI will bring back Sam Altman and overhaul its board to bring on new directors, a stunning reversal in a drama that’s transfixed Silicon Valley and the global AI industry. Read More: What We Know So Far About Why OpenAI Fired Sam Altman Altman is returning as chief executive officer and the initial board will be led by Bret Taylor, a former co-CEO of Salesforce Inc. and director at Twitter before it was acquired by Elon Musk. Other directors include Larry Summers, the U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton, and existing member Adam D’Angelo, the co-founder and CEO of Quora Inc. OpenAI is now working “to figure out the details,” the company said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam 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.— OpenAI (@OpenAI) November 22, 2023 The reworked board may not be final: its main priority is to nominate and select up to nine new directors, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deliberations. Board composition proved to be a major sticking point throughout negotiations, and parties are still determining which members — beside D’Angelo, who has been appointed — will stay on the new OpenAI board. Altman agreed not to be on the board initially in order to get the deal done, said this person, who asked not to be identified disclosing details of private negotiations. It’s likely that Altman will join the board eventually. OpenAI’s biggest backer, Microsoft Corp., will likely have representation on the new board, certainly as a board observer and possibly with one or more board seats, the person said. Altman’s return caps a roller-coaster few days that threw the world’s best-known AI startup into chaos. The two new board members hold appeal for Wall Street investors and the Silicon Valley crowd. Summers, a Harvard academic and regular Bloomberg TV contributor, sits on the board of several startups, including Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc. Taylor is a director at Shopify Inc. and helped steer the sale of Twitter to Musk last year, acting as a calming force during turbulent times. Read More: Why Larry Summers Still Triggers Washington. (It Isn’t His Economics.) OpenAI reached an agreement to reinstate its co-founder after four days of high-stakes negotiations, and after nearly all of its employees threatened to quit if Altman were not reinstated after his surprise ouster. His reinstatement triggered swift congratulations on X from key players in the saga including former president Greg Brockman — who said he too is returning to the company — and Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati. Altman, who was fired by OpenAI’s board on Friday following disagreements over how fast to develop and monetize AI, had been in negotiations with the company to return. Those talks reached an impasse on Sunday in part over pressure from Altman and others for existing board members to resign, according to people familiar with the matter. Instead, the board named a new leader — former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear — and Microsoft chief Satya Nadella said it would hire Altman to head up a new in-house AI research team. Within hours, most of OpenAI’s 770 employees signed a letter to the board saying they might quit and join Microsoft unless all board directors resigned and Altman was reinstated. Among the many who signed the letter was Murati, who had been named interim CEO on Friday, and Ilya Sutskever, an OpenAI co-founder and board member who had previously disagreed with Altman over the company’s direction. Read More: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Is Pushing Past Doubts on Artificial Intelligence The quick reversal could appease investors and reduce the threat of employees fleeing. But it also raises questions about the path ahead for the ChatGPT maker and other AI startups, which have tried to balance developing artificial intelligence responsibly alongside the need to raise vast amounts of capital from investors to support the expensive computing infrastructure required to build these tools. Founded in 2015, OpenAI was initially established as a nonprofit aimed at advancing AI in a way that would benefit humanity and not be dictated by financial gain. The group later reorganized itself as a capped for-profit entity, raising billions from Microsoft and other investors — with Altman being instrumental to those deals — but it continued to be overseen by a non-profit board. That tension exploded into full view in recent days. The startup’s investors were blindsided by Altman’s removal. Microsoft, which backed the startup with a more than $10 billion stake, had only a few minutes’ advance notice about Altman’s firing. The software giant began working with investors including Thrive Capital and Tiger Global Management to bring him back, according to people familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous discussing private information. When that effort failed, Microsoft agreed to hire Altman and others from OpenAI. More than any other figure, Altman, 38, emerged as the face of a new era of artificial intelligence technology, thanks to the viral success of ChatGPT. Altman was at the center of the industry’s efforts this year to work with regulators and he met regularly with world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. On Thursday, he appeared on a panel at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, attended by other executives and world leaders, to discuss the future of AI and its risks. Behind the scenes, however, Altman clashed with members of his board, especially Sutskever, over how quickly to develop generative AI, how to commercialize products and the steps needed to lessen their potential harms to the public, people with knowledge of the matter have said. OpenAI’s other board members at the time included D’Angelo; Tasha McCauley, CEO of GeoSim Systems; and Helen Toner, director of strategy and foundational research grants at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. Alongside rifts over strategy, board members also contended with Altman’s entrepreneurial ambitions. He has been looking to raise tens of billions of dollars from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds to create an AI chip startup to compete with processors made by Nvidia Corp., according to a person with knowledge of the investment proposal. Altman was courting SoftBank Group Corp. chairman Masayoshi Son for a multibillion-dollar investment in a new business to make AI-oriented hardware in partnership with former Apple designer Jony Ive. Altman’s side ventures added complexity to an already strained relationship with the board. In a statement Friday, OpenAI said Altman’s departure came after an internal review by the board found the chief executive “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.” As a result, it said, “the board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.” The boardroom drama had echoes of other coups in Silicon Valley history. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was fired as CEO in 1985 only to return more than a decade later. Twitter co-founder Dorsey was pushed out in 2008 and came back as CEO seven years later......»»

Before Sam Altman's return, Emmett Shear represented the board in negotiations with the ousted OpenAI chief, Bloomberg reported. Emmett Shear (right) became interim CEO after Sam Altman was ousted.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, and Eoin Noonan /Web Summit via Getty Images,Emmett Shear was CEO of OpenAI for 72 hours before Sam Altman's return was announced.Bloomberg reported that Shear had participated in talks between the OpenAI board and Altman.On Wednesday, Shear said he was "deeply pleased" with Altman's return.Emmett Shear, who became OpenAI's interim CEO on Sunday, will stand aside when Sam Altman returns to the role he was ousted from.The company announced Altman's return in a Wednesday post on X, less than a week after its board ousted him."We are collaborating to figure out the details," OpenAI said.Shear confirmed his predecessor's return in a follow-up tweet, saying he was "deeply pleased" with the outcome."Coming into OpenAI, I wasn't sure what the right path would be," he wrote. "This was the pathway that maximized safety alongside doing right by all stakeholders involved."By his own estimate, Shear had worked 72 hours at OpenAI, which he said was "intense."Shear, who ran Twitch until stepping down in March, was tapped to lead OpenAI midway through its week of tumult.He'd joined the company as employees staged a full-on revolt and threatened to quit if Altman was not reinstated.Customers wanted to leave, and Microsoft, OpenAI's biggest investor, swooped into negotiations. Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella previously said he hadn't been told anything about the reason for Altman's dismissal.Shear apparently didn't know the reason either, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources.While Shear did post on X on Sunday that he'd asked the board for their reasoning behind Altman's dismissal, The Verge reported that he'd been unable to obtain written documentation of their explanation.He planned to leave if the board didn't give him that written answer, Bloomberg reported.But regardless of whether his request was granted, Shear is set to depart the CEO role.As interim leader, he represented the OpenAI board in talks with a representative for Altman, Bloomberg reported. Bret Taylor, who was formerly co-CEO of Salesforce, served as a mediator, per the outlet.Shear indicated that those discussions led to Altman's return."I'm glad to have been a part of the solution," he posted.With Altman back, a new board has been established, OpenAI said, with Taylor and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers as members.Adam D'Angelo, who was a member of the original board that fired Altman, is staying on.It's unclear if Shear will remain at OpenAI in any capacity. He'd originally stepped down from Twitch in March to focus on his newborn son.OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment, sent outside regular business hours.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Hundreds of OpenAI staffers were expected to leave the company and join Microsoft in the wake of Altman's departure. He has since rejoined OpenAI. Microsoft was prepping LinkedIn's offices in San Francisco for an influx of OpenAI defectors.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesMicrosoft was preparing to bring on OpenAI employees who were ready to quit after Sam Altman's departure.This included making space at its San Francisco offices and getting MacBook laptops ready for them. However, Altman announced he was returning as OpenAI's CEO on Wednesday morning. Microsoft was getting ready to welcome hundreds of OpenAI employees to its offices in San Francisco before Sam Altman returned as OpenAI's CEO on Wednesday, according to reporting from CNBC and Axios.OpenAI's board of directors ousted Altman as CEO in a surprise move on Friday. Altman was then poached by Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella to head its new advanced AI research team on Sunday. Nadella even said he was ready to welcome OpenAI employees who wanted to quit after Altman's departure. The tech giant, which invested over $10 billion into the AI firm and reportedly owns 49% of it, had started making space for OpenAI staff at its LinkedIn offices in San Francisco which are only a 10 minute drive from OpenAI's headquarters, a source familiar with the matter told Axios. The company was preparing MacBook laptops and training clusters so that staff could be onboarded and continue with their work immediately, the source said. It also had HR and legal workers on standby to deal with hiring and onboarding, sources said to both CNBC and Axios. However, it seems like this may no longer be necessary. Altman announced his return as OpenAI's CEO on Wednesday morning on X after reaching an agreement with the company. Altman wrote that this decision was with "Satya's support," and he would continue building on OpenAI's strong partnership with Microsoft.Nadella responded to Altman on X saying: "We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board. We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance."OpenAI staff showed unwavering support for Altman after he was fired. 95% of the company's workforce signed a letter saying they would quit and join Altman at Microsoft if he wasn't reinstated and the board didn't resign. Microsoft's CTO Kevin Scott said in a post on X on Tuesday that Microsoft would "match" the compensation of OpenAI employees ready to join the company.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

The Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix took place from November 16 to 18. Altman's firing was announced by OpenAI on November 17. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, published on Tuesday, OpenAI's former CEO Sam Altman was in Las Vegas for the F1 race when he was fired.Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images; Robert Szaniszlo/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesSam Altman found out he was getting fired from OpenAI while he was in Las Vegas, per WSJ.He was at the Las Vegas Grand Prix when he got the news.Altman has since been hired by Microsoft, though talks between him and OpenAI's board are ongoing.OpenAI's board told Sam Altman they were dumping him as CEO while he was attending the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.Altman took the fateful Google Meet call with the board in his hotel room in Las Vegas, per The Journal.Altman's firing as CEO was abruptly announced by OpenAI last Friday, midway through the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix that took place from November 16 to 18.Representatives for OpenAI and Formula One Las Vegas did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.Altman has since been given the reins to Microsoft's new advanced AI research team.OpenAI, meanwhile, has since appointed former Twitch chief Emmett Shear as its new interim CEO, but the company is still dealing with the fallout from Altman's ouster.Nearly all of OpenAI's staff threatened to quit unless the board resigned and Altman was reinstated as CEO.And it seems OpenAI's board could be experiencing buyer's remorse with their decision to part ways with Altman.Shear and OpenAI's board are in "intense discussions" with Altman, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing an internal memo it had obtained.One of the great, yet-unanswered questions in this dramatic moment in Silicon Valley history is about why Altman was fired in the first place.In its statement on Altman's departure, OpenAI's board said he "was not consistently candid in his communications" with them. The board has not provided further details on the departure.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

The uproar over OpenAI's decision to oust Sam Altman shows how rare it is for a CEO to be loved and respected, Yale's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld said. Sam Altman has engendered a surprising degree of loyalty from OpenAI staff.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty ImagesSam Altman's ouster has been so unpopular that most OpenAI workers have threatened to quit. The discord reveals a rare level of loyalty to a CEO, leadership experts told Business Insider.OpenAI's small size makes it more likely workers would push back against change at the top.Well, that didn't go as planned.The chaotic ouster of Sam Altman from OpenAI offers lessons around corporate stewardship and about seizing opportunity. It also provides a glimpse at a rare specimen: the beloved CEO.The decision by OpenAI's board to toss aside the company's cofounder has proved so unpopular that basically everyone has threatened to quit. It's a remarkable and uncommon show of support for a top dog at a company, leadership experts told Business Insider.Sure, there are other CEOs whom workers respect and revere. Microsoft's Satya Nadella, already popular, has scooped up Altman faster than someone newly single could set up a Hinge profile. A titan like Jamie Dimon draws endless attention as head of JPMorgan. And Warren Buffet is an institution.There are quirky tech founders like Zuck and ones, like Jacked, errr, Jeff Bezos, who get scrutiny, in part, for how they cavort outside the C-suite.Yet there are few like Altman who — in a moment Jerry McGuire could only dream of — could inspire nearly every worker at the company to walk."I don't know anybody who has this degree of loyalty, affection, and respect," Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for leadership studies at Yale School of Management, told BI. "He proves that you can be both loved and respected. And that's a remarkable accomplishment."Of course, the employees of OpenAI are eminently employable, Sonnenfeld noted, because so many organizations are eager to poach people with expertise in artificial intelligence.Sonnenfeld, who's also founder of Yale's Chief Executive Leadership Institute, said often in tech, people tend to be more wedded to the work they do rather than to their leaders. "They aren't usually so caught up in an individual," he said.There was little dustup, Sonnenfeld noted, when Apple cofounder Steve Jobs got pushed aside in the mid-1980s before his ultimate return to the company. "In terms of the affection, while Steve Jobs had a lot of loyalty, there was no mass defection when he was replaced," he said.There are CEOs who reach a 10 on the popularity scale though it's not the norm, Sonnenfeld said. He pointed to Ken Frazier, former CEO of drugmaker Merck as one. Indra Nooyi, the one-time head of PepsiCo, was up there, Sonnenfeld said. He also added Marc Benioff, the chief at Salesforce, to his list."Benioff has gone through some difficult restructuring in the last 10 months. And yet everybody has stayed with him," Sonnenfeld said.In Altman's case, there are additional forces fanning workers' outrage, Stephen B. Young, leadership expert and author of "Kissinger's Betrayal: How America Lost the Vietnam War" told BI. He said the small size of OpenAI — it has just under 800 employees — likely added fuel to the staff revolt. "Emotions and personalities play a much greater role in the small company," he said.And because OpenAI is a startup, it doesn't have a well-defined trajectory that a more established company would have. So changing captains early in the game can have a larger impact on how things play out. "In your bigger company, that's all pretty well institutionalized," Young said.Beyond that, if some OpenAI staff thought they were getting in at the start of the next Facebook or Google, it's no surprise they'd be upset by the removal of the person charged with getting the company there, Young said.Sonnenfeld said while the anger over Altman's dismissal has been striking, so has his rapid ascent to the tech stratosphere. "There's nobody more respected in the world of technology today," he said. "And most of us had never heard of him a year ago."Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Mustafa Suleyman, who cofounded DeepMind as well as Inflection AI, claims it has the "2nd best LLM in the world." Mustafa Suleyman is cofounder of Inflection AI and DeepMind.InflectionMustafa Suleyman told OpenAI staff "come run with us" after a "utterly insane" weekend. The Inflection AI cofounder and CEO used an X post to promote his own firm and its progress.He claimed that it has "the 2nd best LLM in the world" and said it's "scaling MUCH further." The cofounder of Inflection AI weighed in on the "utterly insane" weekend experienced by its rival OpenAI and told workers to "come run with us." Mustafa Suleyman, who's also CEO, took to X on Monday, offering his sympathy to "everyone involved" and using the opportunity to trumpet his AI startup's progress. "In the meantime, we finished training Inflection-2 last night! It's now the 2nd best LLM in the world ... & we're scaling MUCH further," Suleyman said in an X post. "Details v soon. Come run with us!"Utterly insane weekend. So sad. Wishing everyone involved the very best. In the meantime, we finished training Inflection-2 last night! ✨It's now the 2nd best LLM in the world... & we're scaling MUCH further. Details v soon. Come run with us!— Mustafa Suleyman (@mustafasuleyman) November 20, 2023Inflection AI launched its chatbot Pi to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT in May. Pi is designed to serve users as a personal assistant and can generate emotional support and advice. The Inflection AI chief's comments on OpenAI comes as it faces the aftermath of ousting Sam Altman. The vast majority of its workforce is in revolt over the leadership changes and has threatened to quit unless the board resigns and reinstates Altman. Other companies with an AI offering are seizing the moment to try and lure talent from the ChatGPT maker. Kelsey Laymon, who works in X's legal department, posted Monday: "just going to drop this here, @xai is hiring." Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff promised in an X post that it would "match any OpenAI researcher who has tendered their resignation full cash & equity OTE" to join its AI research team.  Inflection AI has been backed by tech heavyweights including ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, and chipmaker Nvidia, according to Forbes. It raised $1.3 billion at a $4 billion valuation in June, TechCrunch reported. Suleyman cofounded the AI firm in 2022 alongside "Paypal Mafia" member and LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman. Before that, he cofounded DeepMind in 2010, which was acquired by Google in 2014. Inflection AI didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Sam Altman's surprise ousting from OpenAI has set of a dramatic chain of events. Here's what we know so far. Sam Altman got pushed out of OpenAI.Toby Melville/Getty ImagesSam Altman got pushed out as OpenAI CEO last Friday.He was ousted by the company's board kickstarted a weekend of chaos.Here's a timeline of the events at OpenAI. Sam Altman, former CEO of OpenAI and the face of ChatGPT, is out of the company he cofounded.The tech boss was fired in a shock board decision on Friday, kickstarting a chaotic weekend.The move shocked the tech community and OpenAI investors, including Microsoft. Initial reports quickly started circulating that the board was wavering on its controversial decision and actively trying to get Altman back.By Monday, it all appeared to have fallen apart. Former Twitch CEO and cofounder, Emmett Shear, was named interim CEO of the company, and Altman had joined Microsoft.But the chaos was far from over.Most employees who returned to work on Monday were less than impressed with the new company leadership.Staffers staged a revolt in the form of an open letter demanding the board's resignation and the reinstatement of their former chief. By the end of the day, nearly all employees at the company had added their names.Here's a timeline of everything we know so far:Altman was ousted from OpenAI in a shock board decisionAltman was immediately ousted from OpenAI in a dramatic board decision on Friday. The nonprofit board of the company announced it no longer had "confidence in his ability to continue leading."A timeline provided by fellow OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman showed that Altman received a text from board member Ilya Sutskever asking to talk at midday Friday.When Altman joined the meeting, the whole board, excluding Brockman, was on the call and he was told by Sutskever he was being fired, per Brockman's post.OpenAI staffers resignedBrockman, the former OpenAI president and cofounder, quit his role at the company shortly after the news broke.Brockman said he was told that he was being removed from the board and that Altman had been fired at about the same time OpenAI published a blog post about the incident.Brockman was originally told he was "vital to the company and would retain his role," but decided to part ways with the company shortly after.The decision was met with shock from the tech community, and at least three other OpenAI researchers followed the former president in giving up their roles.OpenAI board was 'optimistic' about getting Altman backInvestors, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, were reportedly "blindsided" by the decision to remove Altman.Several investors began pushing the board members to reverse their sudden leadership decision, per Bloomberg.In an internal memo cited by The Information, OpenAI's chief strategy officer, Jason Kwon, wrote to staff late Saturday night saying the company remained "optimistic" that it could bring back Altman and other senior employees who had left.Microsoft chief Nadella reportedly led the high-stakes talks on Altman's return over the weekend.On Sunday, the former OpenAI chief returned to the company's HQ. He posted a picture of himself wearing a guest badge captioned, "first and last time I ever wear one of these."Discussions fell apart and a new CEO was announcedThe Information reported that on Sunday night, Sutskever told OpenAI staffers that Altman would not return, prompting several more employees to quit.Discussions to bring Altman back had reportedly fallen apart, per The Verge. The board then named former Twitch CEO and cofounder Emmett Shear as interim CEO. Shear took over the role from OpenAI's former CTO Mira Murati, who had publicly supported Altman.Altman and Brockman joined MicrosoftIn a dramatic twist, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella scooped up Altman and Brockman to lead "a new advanced AI research team" at Microsoft.In a post on X, Brockman said the new Microsoft team would comprise him, Altman, Aleksander Madry, Szymon Sidor, and Jakub Pachocki. He said the team planned to "build something new" and "incredible."Nadella announced on Monday the company remained "committed to our partnership with OpenAI" and had "confidence in our product roadmap."A key board member said he regretted ousting AltmanOpenAI cofounder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever said on Monday he deeply regretted his involvement in firing Altman.Many had theorized that Sutskever had a major role in the decision, with reports highlighting the differing priorities between Altman and the nonprofit board."I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI," Sutskever said in an X post Monday. "I love everything we've built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company."The chief scientist also added his name to an open letter calling for the board, which he sits on, to resign.Employees staged a revoltMost employees returning to work on Monday were unhappy with the chaos the OpenAI board had kickstarted.Former CTO Mira Murati was installed as interim CEO, following Altman's departure. CEO Emmett Shear, who cofounded Twitch, then took over from her. This meant the company had three CEOs in as many days.The majority of OpenAI staffers just wanted Altman back.By the end of the day, nearly the entire OpenAI staff had threatened to quit and join Altman at Microsoft. They signed a letter calling the board to resign, accusing members of undermining the company.Altman's return might still be on the cardsDespite publically joining Microsoft that morning, by Monday evening, Altman was reportedly still considering returning to his old post at the AI lab.The Verge reported that Altman and Brockman were considering going back to OpenAI if the board members who ousted Altman stepped down.Multiple sources told the outlet that Altman, along with Brockman and OpenAI's investors, were trying to find a plan for board members to exit the company.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

The uproar over OpenAI's decision to oust Sam Altman shows how rare it is for a CEO to be loved and respected, Yale's Jeffrey Sonnenfeld said. Sam Altman has engendered a surprising degree of loyalty from OpenAI staff.Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty ImagesSam Altman's ouster has been so unpopular that most OpenAI workers have threatened to quit. The discord reveals a rare level of loyalty to a CEO, leadership experts told Business Insider.OpenAI's small size makes it more likely workers would push back against change at the top.Well, that didn't go as planned.The chaotic ouster of Sam Altman from OpenAI offers lessons around corporate stewardship and about seizing opportunity. It also provides a glimpse at a rare specimen: the beloved CEO.The decision by OpenAI's board to toss aside the company's cofounder has proved so unpopular that basically everyone has threatened to quit. It's a remarkable and uncommon show of support for a top dog at a company, leadership experts told Business Insider.Sure, there are other CEOs whom workers respect and revere. Microsoft's Satya Nadella, already popular, has scooped up Altman faster than someone newly single could set up a Hinge profile. A titan like Jamie Dimon draws endless attention as head of JPMorgan. And Warren Buffet is an institution.There are quirky tech founders like Zuck and ones, like Jacked, errr, Jeff Bezos, who get scrutiny, in part, for how they cavort outside the C-suite.Yet there are few like Altman who — in a moment Jerry McGuire could only dream of — could inspire nearly every worker at the company to walk."I don't know anybody who has this degree of loyalty, affection, and respect," Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for leadership studies at Yale School of Management, told BI. "He proves that you can be both loved and respected. And that's a remarkable accomplishment."Of course, the employees of OpenAI are eminently employable, Sonnenfeld noted, because so many organizations are eager to poach people with expertise in artificial intelligence.Sonnenfeld, who's also founder of Yale's Chief Executive Leadership Institute, said often in tech, people tend to be more wedded to the work they do rather than to their leaders. "They aren't usually so caught up in an individual," he said.There was little dustup, Sonnenfeld noted, when Apple cofounder Steve Jobs got pushed aside in the mid-1980s before his ultimate return to the company. "In terms of the affection, while Steve Jobs had a lot of loyalty, there was no mass defection when he was replaced," he said.There are CEOs who reach a 10 on the popularity scale though it's not the norm, Sonnenfeld said. He pointed to Ken Frazier, former CEO of drugmaker Merck as one. Indra Nooyi, the one-time head of PepsiCo, was up there, Sonnenfeld said. He also added Marc Benioff, the chief at Salesforce, to his list."Benioff has gone through some difficult restructuring in the last 10 months. And yet everybody has stayed with him," Sonnenfeld said.In Altman's case, there are additional forces fanning workers' outrage, Stephen B. Young, leadership expert and author of "Kissinger's Betrayal: How America Lost the Vietnam War" told BI. He said the small size of OpenAI — it has just under 800 employees — likely added fuel to the staff revolt. "Emotions and personalities play a much greater role in the small company," he said.And because OpenAI is a startup, it doesn't have a well-defined trajectory that a more established company would have. So changing captains early in the game can have a larger impact on how things play out. "In your bigger company, that's all pretty well institutionalized," Young said.Beyond that, if some OpenAI staff thought they were getting in at the start of the next Facebook or Google, it's no surprise they'd be upset by the removal of the person charged with getting the company there, Young said.Sonnenfeld said while the anger over Altman's dismissal has been striking, so has his rapid ascent to the tech stratosphere. "There's nobody more respected in the world of technology today," he said. "And most of us had never heard of him a year ago."Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

A number of OpenAI staff say they have signed a letter threatening to quit if Sam Altman is not brought back as CEO despite being on work-related visas. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was fired by the company's board on Friday.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images700 OpenAI employees have signed a letter threatening to quit if Sam Altman isn't reinstated as CEO.Some of them say they are on work-dependent visas, which they could lose if they are forced to quit.It's a sign of how much loyalty Altman has inspired among staff.OpenAI's employees are calling on the company's board to bring back Sam Altman — and some are even willing to put their visas at risk to get him back as CEO.A number of OpenAI employees say they have signed a letter threatening to quit if Sam Altman is not brought back as CEO despite being on work-related visas, meaning they could lose the right to remain in the US should they resign.As of Monday evening, over 700 of OpenAI's 770 employees had signed the letter threatening to quit and join Altman at Microsoft if the AI startup's board does not reinstate him as CEO and resign.That includes senior figures such as CTO Mira Murati and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever — who had a change of heart after initially backing the board coup against Altman."I am on an H-1B, in the process of getting my green card and relocating my family to the US," said OpenAI technical staffer Reiichiro Nakano in a post on X."Me and many other colleagues in a similar situation have signed this letter. I do not know what will happen next, but I am confident we will be taken care of. The board should resign," he said.Boris Power, OpenAI's head of applied research, also posted on X that he risked losing his visa should he quit the company."I'm on a research visa too that I will lose if I resign. These are details — onwards with the mission!" he said.OpenAI's employees have publicly backed Altman to the hilt since he was unexpectedly fired by the company's board on Friday, posting coordinated messages on social media and reportedly refusing to attend an all-hands hosted by new boss Emmett Shear.A number of senior OpenAI employees are already expected to follow Altman and ex-OpenAI president Greg Brockman to Microsoft.Altman has also hinted that workers who choose to resign from OpenAI will be welcomed into the new AI team he is heading up at Microsoft, posting on X that "we are all going to work together some way or other, and I'm so excited."In the letter to the board calling for its resignation, OpenAI's employees said that Microsoft "assured us there are positions for all OpenAI employees" at the company — although sources told Business Insider that these assurances were strictly verbal and not set in stone.But Microsoft boss Satya Nadella said in a conversation with tech journalist Kara Swisher on an episode of her podcast that aired on Monday that it would "definitely have a place for all AI talent."OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

"We will definitely have a place for all AI talent to come here and move forward on the mission," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. "We will definitely have a place for all AI talent to come here and move forward on the mission," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told Kara Swisher on Monday.Justin Sullivan via Getty ImagesSatya Nadella says Microsoft welcomes AI talent who want to leave OpenAI."We will definitely have a place for all AI talent to come here," he said on Kara Swisher's podcast.Nearly all of OpenAI's staffers have threatened to quit unless former CEO Sam Altman is reinstated. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says his company is open to taking in AI talent who want to leave OpenAI following the ouster of its former CEO Sam Altman.Altman's abrupt departure led to a weekend of drama, which ended with him and former OpenAI president Greg Brockman joining Microsoft to head its new advanced AI research team on Monday. Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, was named the new interim CEO of OpenAI on the same day.But the chaos isn't over yet. Nearly all of OpenAI's staff members have threatened to quit unless the board resigns and Altman is reinstated as CEO, according to a letter signed by hundreds of employees.And Nadella, it appears, is ready for that exact mass-quitting scenario."We will definitely have a place for all AI talent to come here and move forward on the mission, and we will be supportive of whoever remains even at OpenAI or whatever," Nadella told journalist Kara Swisher on an episode of her podcast, which aired on Monday.Nadella isn't the only tech executive looking to benefit from OpenAI's woes.On Monday, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff promised to match the contracts of OpenAI researchers who resigned to join Salesforce."Salesforce will match any OpenAI researcher who has tendered their resignation full cash & equity OTE to immediately join our Salesforce Einstein Trusted AI research team under Silvio Savarese," Benioff wrote on X, formerly Twitter.Representatives for Microsoft and OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»