SAN FRANCISCO (CN) —Sam Altman, who was abruptly fired by OpenAI last week, will return to his CEO role this week.
The company said in a statement that it had an “agreement in principle” for Altman to return.
Altman reached an agreement to lead an advanced AI research team at Microsoft over the weekend but reneged on the deal to return to OpenAI with a new, restructured board of directors. Former OpenAI President Greg Brockman, who resigned in the wake of Altman’s ouster, is also returning to the company.
“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. when i decided to join msft on sun evening, it was clear that was the best path for me and the team. 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,” Altman wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The new board of directors will be composed of former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor as chairman; Larry Summers, OpenAI’s former treasury secretary; and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo. D’Angelo is the only holdover from the previous board.
Brockman posted a smiling photo of himself surrounded by other OpenAI employees on X with the caption “we are so back.”
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said he supported Altman’s decision to leave Microsoft and go back to OpenAI. Microsoft has invested billions in OpenAI and owns a 49% stake in the company, valued at $80 billion.
“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,” Nadella wrote on X. “Sam, Greg, and I have talked and agreed they have a key role to play along with the OAI leadership team in ensuring OAI continues to thrive and build on its mission. We look forward to building on our strong partnership and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners.”
The previous board said that Altman was fired for not being candid enough with them, but members did not provide examples of how Altman misled them. In the wake of his firing, a revolt took place at OpenAI, with hundreds of employees threatening to leave the company and follow Altman to Microsoft.
An open letter outlining employees’ frustration with Altman’s firing was released to the Wall Street Journal on Monday.
“Your actions have made it obvious that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI. We are unable to work for or with people that lack competence, judgment and care for our mission and employees. We, the undersigned, may choose to resign from OpenAI and join the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary run by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman,” the letter reads. “Microsoft has assured us that there are positions for all OpenAI employees at this new subsidiary should we choose to join. We will take this step imminently, unless all current board members resign, and the board appoints two new lead independent directors, such as Bret Taylor and Will Hurd, and reinstates Sam Altman and Greg Brockman.”
After Altman was fired, OpenAI went through two CEOs in a three-day period; interim CEO Mura Murati, who was appointed immediately after Altman’s firing, and Emmett Shear, who was appointed on Sunday.
On X, Shear wrote that he was “deeply pleased” that Altman is returning.
“This was the pathway that maximized safety alongside doing right by all stakeholders involved. I’m glad to have been a part of the solution,” Shear wrote.
It is unclear if Shear will remain with the company.
OpenAI, headquartered in San Francisco, was founded as a nonprofit in 2015. In 2019, the company restructured and shed its nonprofit status, and became the face of AI technology with the release of ChatGPT in November 2022. The controversial tool uses artificial intelligence to generate human-like responses to questions and prompts.
OpenAI and Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment.
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