Sam Altman has been forced out of OpenAI, Inc., the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that acts as the governing body for OpenAI. He’ll both leave the company’s board and step down as CEO.
In a post on OpenAI’s official blog, the company writes that Altman’s departure follows a “deliberative review process by the board” that concluded that Altman “wasn’t consistently candid in his communications” with other board members — “hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.”
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“The board no longer has confidence in [Altman’s] ability to continue leading OpenAI,” the blog post reads.
The dramatic leadership change will also see Greg Brockman — who was a member of the team that co-founded OpenAI, as was Altman — step down as chairman of the board but remain as its president, reporting to OpenAI’s new interim CEO, Mira Murati. Murati was previously OpenAI’s chief technology officer.
OpenAI says that it’ll begin conducting a formal search for a permanent CEO immediately.
“OpenAI was deliberately structured to advance our mission: to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all humanity,” the board of directors wrote in a joint statement. “The board remains fully committed to serving this mission. We are grateful for Sam’s many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI. At the same time, we believe new leadership is necessary as we move forward. As the leader of the company’s research, product, and safety functions, Mira is exceptionally qualified to step into the role of interim CEO. We have the utmost confidence in her ability to lead OpenAI during this transition period.”
OpenAI’s board of directors now consists of OpenAI’s chief scientist Ilya Sutskever; Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo; tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley; and Helen Toner, the director of strategy at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology.
It’s unclear what missteps Altman might’ve made — at present. But rest assured we’re keeping our ears to the ground for more information.
Altman’s removal comes unexpectedly, to say the least. The company just last week hosted its first developer conference, which Altman emceed.
And Altman has a long history steering OpenAI. After co-founding the company, he initially served as a co-chair of OpenAI alongside Elon Musk. (Musk left in 2018 to avoid a conflict of interest with Tesla.)
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