News
The Gist
- Leadership change at OpenAI. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, was dismissed by the board of directors due to a lack of confidence in his leadership, particularly highlighting issues with his candor in communications with the board.
- Interim CEO appointed. Mira Murati, the chief technology officer at OpenAI, has been named interim CEO. She brings extensive experience, having led the company's research, product, and safety functions, and is expected to ensure a smooth transition while the board searches for a permanent successor.
- OpenAI board and organizational dynamics. The board, which includes key figures such as Ilya Sutskever, Adam D’Angelo, Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner, remains committed to OpenAI's mission. Greg Brockman, OpenAI co-founder, quit after hearing about the Altman news.
Editor's note: This article has been updated throughout the weekend of Nov. 18-19 to account for the rapid changes around this news. And you'll never guess this one — there was a HUGE update on this news Monday morning, Nov. 20 — Sam Altman was hired by Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI team. We've got you covered in our second piece on this Microsoft news. Oh, and here's another update Nov. 22 — OpenAI rehired Altman, and its board is no longer intact.
The board of directors at OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, fired CEO Sam Altman Friday, Nov. 17 because it "no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI."
Shortly after, OpenAI President and Co-Founder Greg Brockman and other executives quit, just a couple of weeks shy of the one-year anniversary of the record-breaking generative AI app that changed the artificial intelligence game forever — ChatGPT.
The stunning decision on Altman 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."
Altman just last week led OpenAI's developer conference in which he announced the launch of the latest iteration of the company's language model, GPT-4 Turbo, during the company's DevDay event in San Francisco. The update introduced six major enhancements designed to improve user interaction, extend the model's capabilities and reduce costs for developers.
Altman, 38, has easily served as the face of the brand that debuted ChatGPT Nov. 30, 2022, which set records for application adoption and made generative AI mainstream globally almost instantaneously. It also sparked AI policies on a federal level in the United States and put AI high on the agenda for global leaders.
Altman represented OpenAI and testified in front of Congress, encouraging lawmakers to adopt AI legislation. He's been profiled over and over again by major outlets covering AI's future. He shared a stage at OpenAI's developer day with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella just this month. Microsoft invested $10 billion into OpenAI earlier this year.
In a post on X on Friday, Nov. 17, Altman said, "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."
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.
— Sam Altman (@sama) November 17, 2023
will have more to say about what’s next later.
🫡
Altman posted two more times after his initial post on X near 5 p.m. ET Friday, Nov. 17.
In his second post after the news, at 12:05 a.m. ET Saturday, Nov. 18, he wrote, "i love you all. today was a weird experience in many ways. but one unexpected one is that it has been sorta like reading your own eulogy while you’re still alive. the outpouring of love is awesome. one takeaway: go tell your friends how great you think they are."
In his third post since the news, at 12:32 a.m., he wrote, "if i start going off, the openai board should go after me for the full value of my shares."
And here's where it begins to get wild.
The Information reported Friday, Nov. 17 some senior executives left OpenAI after Altman's dismissal, signaling some forthcoming turmoil around the loss of the CEO. Brockman also quit after the Altman news, he announced in a post on X. And, oh, by the way, the Verge on Saturday, Nov. 18 OpenAI is having discussions about Altman returning to his CEO post.
Wild. Weird. Fascinating.
OpenAI CTO Takes Over as Interim CEO
Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati was appointed interim CEO to lead OpenAI, effective immediately. The board says a search process is underway to identify permanent successor.
“OpenAI was deliberately structured to advance our mission: to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all humanity," the board of directors said in a 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.”
Murati, a five-year employee at OpenAI, has led the company’s research, product and safety functions. "Given her long tenure and close engagement with all aspects of the company," the OpenAI board wrote, "including her experience in AI governance and policy, the board believes she is uniquely qualified for the role and anticipates a seamless transition while it conducts a formal search for a permanent CEO.
OpenAI’s board of directors consists of OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, independent directors Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology’s Helen Toner.
As a part of this transition, the board had announced Brockman would be stepping down as chairman of the board and would remain in his role at the company, reporting to the CEO.
However, Brockman began posting on X.
Brockman weighed in on the news late on Friday, Nov. 17, posting on X, "Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today."
"Let us first say thank you to all the incredible people who we have worked with at OpenAI, our customers, our investors, and all of those who have been reaching out," Brockman added. "We too are still trying to figure out exactly what happened."
Earlier, he posted on X saying he informed the board he quit.
Here's his first post on X Nov. 17:
After learning today’s news, this is the message I sent to the OpenAI team: https://t.co/NMnG16yFmm pic.twitter.com/8x39P0ejOM
— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023
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Here's his second post on X four hours later:
Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today.
— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023
Let us first say thank you to all the incredible people who we have worked with at OpenAI, our customers, our investors, and all of those who have been reaching out.
We too are still trying to figure out exactly…
Related Article: OpenAI Founders on Generative AI — and the Customer Experience Correlations
What Does This Mean for Development on OpenAI and ChatGPT?
Of course, if you're using OpenAI in your marketing or customer experience strategies, you're going to want to know details of just what specifically Altman was not candid about. Something in OpenAI's roadmap? Something in its current development platform of large language models?
It's uncertain if those details will ever be public. The nondisclosure agreements around Altman's firing probably still have wet ink at this point. But something tells us more details will be revealed. This is tech, and leaks are as common ChatGPT-inspired LinkedIn posts.
The message for marketing and customer experience leaders is stay tuned for more news here. It may not directly impact marketing campaigns, content or customer service operations — now or ever. It's nonetheless something to watch.
Damian Rollison, director of marketing insights at SOCi, a marketing AI tech platform, speculated in an email to CMSWire the decision could be related to OpenAI’s Sutskever and the “ethical development of AI.”
“It’s a sudden reversal given that Altman was front and center at the DevDay event last week and has acted as the public voice for OpenAI since the launch of ChatGPT," Rollison said. "We don't know anything about the allegations from the board as yet, or what they might indicate about any weakening of the company's momentum, though it seems likely that OpenAI will be able to weather the disruption."
Rollison noted the board that made the decision cited the company's original charter, when it was still a nonprofit entity, to "ensure that artificial intelligence benefits all humanity." Sutskever is OpenAI's co-founder and chief scientist and "the real brains behind ChatGPT," according to Rollison. Sutskever recently revealed that his own highest priority is to build a method for preventing any future artificial superintelligence from causing harm to humanity.
"It's at least possible," Rollison said, "that the move to oust Altman marks a pivot away from pure productization and towards an emphasis on ethical development of AI.”
Meanwhile, some praise is rolling in for Altman in social media. Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, now a major competitor in the AI race with OpenAI, posted on X Nov. 17 that Altman is a "hero of mine."
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