In stunning new twist, Sam Altman to return as OpenAI CEO after days of chaos

After plunging itself into days of utter chaos, the artificial intelligence giant Open AI has added yet another twist to the ongoing farce.

(FILES) Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, speaks during The Wall Street Journal's WSJ Tech Live Conference in Laguna Beach, California on October 17, 2023. OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT a year ago, said November 17 it had dismissed CEO Sam Altman as it no longer had confidence in his ability to lead the Microsoft-backed firm. Altman's shock 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," a statement said. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)

ChatGPT creator OpenAI announced on Tuesday that Sam Altman would return as its CEO, days after his shock dismissal plunged the pioneering artificial intelligence firm into crisis.

Altman’s dramatic exit on Friday sparked intense lobbying from OpenAI’s biggest investors, including tech titan Microsoft, for his return.

Hundreds of OpenAI staff had threatened to quit in a letter released to the media, demanding the resignation of the board as speculation swirled about the future of the company.

OpenAI wrote on X that it “reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo”.

“We are collaborating to figure out the details,” it said.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had announced this week that he would hire Altman to lead an AI research team.

Altman said on Tuesday that his return had Nadella’s backing.

We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo.

We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this.

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) November 22, 2023

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…

— Sam Altman (@sama) November 22, 2023

Microsoft has invested billions of dollars into OpenAI, incorporating its tech into various products including its search engine Bing.

Its data centres have been crucial to the development of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, whose success sparked a multibillion-dollar global race in AI research and development.

Nadella had said that “governance changes” were needed at OpenAI to avoid such disruptive surprises.

“We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” the Microsoft CEO said on X on Tuesday.

“We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”

Sam Altman’s dramatic exit on Friday sparked intense lobbying from OpenAI’s biggest investors, including tech titan Microsoft, for his return.

The latest announcement appeared to cap the rollercoaster events unleashed by Altman’s firing last week.

The OpenAI board, which included widely respected AI researcher and company co-founder Ilya Sutskever, on Sunday stood by its decision to dismiss Altman and appointed Emmett Shear as interim CEO.

But that did little to quell the outrage within the company or the unease among OpenAI’s investors.

Sutskever was among the signatories of the letter from OpenAI’s employees demanding the board’s ouster.

“I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions,” he wrote on X on Monday. “I never intended to harm OpenAI.”

Generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT are trained on vast amounts of data to enable them to answer questions, even complex ones, in human-like language.

They are also used to generate and manipulate imagery.

But the tech has triggered warnings about the dangers of its misuse — from blackmailing people with “deepfake” images to the manipulation of images and harmful disinformation.

Generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT are trained on vast amounts of data to enable them to answer questions, even complex ones, in human-like language.

The drama engulfing the ChatGPT artificial intelligence firm has been tipped to disrupt a planned $122 billion float.

On Friday, the OpenAI board shocked the industry by removing co-founder Mr Altman and appointing chief technology officer Mira Murati as the interim CEO.

Over the weekend, OpenAI rejected pressure from Microsoft and other major investors to reverse its stunning decision.

In a memo sent to employees on Sunday night, it said the sacking was “the only path to advance and defend the mission of OpenAI,” The New York Times reported.

“Put simply, Sam’s behaviour and lack of transparency in his interactions with the board undermined the board’s ability to effectively supervise the company in the manner it was mandated to do”.

There have also been suggestions the board was concerned Mr Altman was underestimating the dangers of its tech.

The employees at OpenAI just lost billions of dollars in secondary share sales that were about to happen at a $90b valuation — that’s over. Done.

I think OpenAI will lose half their employees, the 12-18 month lead, and 90% of their valuation in 2024.

Just insane value…

— @jason (@Jason) November 20, 2023