Artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer Sam Altman, one of the driving forces behind the global adoption of AI and the creator of chatbot ChatGPT, has been fired from OpenAI. Altman co-founded OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, after the board of directors lost faith in his leadership.
In a statement, OpenAI said that Altman’s “departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities”.
The statement also said that its Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mira Murati will take over as the interim CEO, and OpenAI will conduct a formal search for a permanent CEO.
Confirming the news, Altman took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “I loved my time at OpenAI. It was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. Most of all I loved working with such talented people. Will have more to say about what’s next later.”
Interestingly, Greg Brockman, co-founder and President of OpenAI, also announced his resignation on Saturday, hours after the company behind ChatGPT said it had dismissed CEO Sam Altman. “I’m super proud of what we’ve all built together since starting in my apartment 8 years ago,” Brockman wrote in a post on the social media site X. “We’ve been through tough & great times together, accomplishing so much despite all the reasons it should have been impossible. But based on today’s news, I quit.”
Some additional details about the firing of Sam Altman:
- Altman had invested in Mira Labs in 2018.
- He did not disclose his investment to OpenAI until March 2019.
- OpenAI’s board of directors voted to fire Altman after learning of his investment.
- Altman has said that he regrets not disclosing his investment sooner.
- He has also said that he believes OpenAI should be more open to the possibility of developing harmful AGI.
Sam Altman’s creation of ChatGPT, a groundbreaking AI chatbot, propelled him to prominence in the tech industry and sparked an unprecedented AI advancement race. As a leading technology entrepreneur, Altman championed the adoption of AI, influencing global lawmakers and advocating for its transformative potential. AI is widely acknowledged as a pivotal technological shift, and Altman’s contributions have been instrumental in mainstreaming its acceptance and harnessing its power.
He represented OpenAI, a company that entered rare territory by securing billions of dollars in funding from Microsoft and garnering envy from Silicon Valley giants like Google and Meta, Facebook’s parent company. OpenAI’s board of directors comprises chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology’s Helen Toner.