The firing and return of Sam Altman, the earthquake that shook the AI ​​world for 5 days

Sam Altmanwho just a year ago surprised the world with the help of OpenAIhis then small technology company specializing in generative artificial intelligence, has been in the news again in recent days, but this time due to a surprising and unclear dismissal from his own company following a decision by the board of directors.

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Since Friday the 17th, the situation has only gotten worse. Even after firing Altman, OpenAI tried to hire him back due to protest from his team.

Failing to do so, 90% of its employees threatened to resign in the last few hours. And to add more morbidity to the matter, technology giant – and OpenAI shareholder – Microsoft has unexpectedly appeared to hire Altman and there is now little certainty about what role this tech celebrity will play.

To better understand the situation, let’s go back to Thursday, the 16th. That day, the co-founder and chief scientist of OpenAIIlya Sutskever, wrote to Altman to notify you of a board meeting scheduled for 3pm the following day.

Sutskever had already told Mira Murati, the company’s technology director, that the plan was to fire Altman and appoint its interim CEO.

Friday, Altman He connected to the video call via Google Meet and received the news: he was fired. Then it was time to Greg Brockmanco-founder and president of Open AIthat it was announced that he would be removed from the board of directors.

Less than ten minutes later the company announced the dismissal of both and the appointment of Murati as interim CEO. In the statement, the board stated that “Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process that concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, which undermined his ability to carry out his responsibilities. The board no longer trusts your ability to continue leading OpenAI”.

The news surprised the technological world a lot, due to the popularity of Altman since just a week ago he was the star of the first OpenAI.

However, where the news resonated loudest was in the offices of the Microsoft. The CEO of the technology giant, Satya Nadellanot only was “astonished”But also furious with the announcement, a source close to the executive revealed to Bloomberg.

Microsoft holds 49% of the shares of OpenAI after having made an investment of more than 13 billion dollars in the company.

Despite his anger, Nadella confirms through social media Microsoft will keep”a long-term agreement with OpenAI (…) we remain committed to our agreement, with Mira (Murati) and the team”.

The departure of AltmanHowever, it provoked an unexpected chain of reactions among workers at the OpenAI. At 1:41 am on Saturday, three senior researchers resigned from the company in solidarity with the co-founder.

That same afternoon it was learned that Altman began negotiating with potential investors to found a new AI next to Brockman.

In response, Microsoft and other investors began to pressure the board of directors OpenAI to recover Altman. But the meeting fails and Altman explains to his networks that he would only return if the company underwent significant changes in its governance.

That same afternoon, the operations director of OpenAIBrad Lightcap, sends an internal memo ensuring that the departure of Altman It was not due to poor management of the company, but to “a breakdown in communications with the board of directors”.

On Sunday, the 19th, the entire technological world was still waiting to see how the drama between Altman It is OpenAI. That same afternoon, Bloomberg reported that negotiations between the two sides had stalled and around midnight Sutskever confirmed to the company that Altman I would not return as CEO.

In reaction to this announcement, dozens of employees from OpenAI They resigned from the company, according to the media outlet “The Information”.

Without Altman back, the board OpenAI names streaming platform Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear as new interim CEO. Nadela tweeted again that morning reaffirming the commitment to Microsoft with OpenAI and waiting “meet Shear and the new OpenAI leadership team to work with”.

What no one expected, however, was the CEO’s ace up his sleeve. “We are excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, along with their colleagues, will join Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team.“, announced Nadella in the same publication.

Throughout the morning of this Monday, the 20th, Murati, Lightcap and Sutskever himself published messages lamenting the situation and the departure of Altman in OpenAI.

Especially surprising are the words of the chief scientist who laments “profoundly my participation in the council’s actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we’ve built together and will do everything I can to bring the company back together,” according to a post on X.

Microsoft He also ensured that all employees of the OpenAI who wants to follow Altman You will maintain the same benefits you had in the small company. This caused more than 500 workers, out of a total of 770 OpenAI employees, to threaten to leave the company in solidarity with Altman. According to the letter they signed, they will make the decision if the board of directors does not resign.

In apparent response to the demands, early yesterday morning OpenAI’s top brass, including interim CEO Emmett Shear, reportedly opened a new round of negotiations with Altman in an attempt to “reunify the company.”

Managers would rely on the alliance with Microsoft modify cooperation between both companies and, in a possible scenario, restore Altman in your position.

However, Microsoft’s chief technology officer, Kevin Scott, reminded X that any worker who decides to leave OpenAI will happen in your company.

In another chapter that adds to the surprising changes we have witnessed in recent days, OpenAI announced that Altman was returning to its ranks as chief executive officer and named a transition board that would be led by Bret Taylor, former co-CEO of Salesforce Inc. ; and which will also include former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers; and Quora Inc. co-founder and CEO Adam D’Angelo.

This council, it was learned, will be responsible for selecting up to nine new directors, according to North American media.

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.