Sam Altman’s abrupt firing and then reinstatement at OpenAI has plunged the once unstoppable, now troubled AI giant into chaos. Altman has survived but predictions that the board which fired him would not last have proved correct. A new board has been appointed, including respected former US treasury secretary Larry Summers and former Salesforce boss Bret Taylor.

As it faced calls for resignation from major investors, the former executive team and a significant majority of OpenAI staff – 710 out of 770 – the position of the former board became untenable. They still haven’t offered a compelling justification for their behaviour.