‘No confidence’: Sam Altman ousted as CEO of OpenAI

OpenAI says Sam Altman is leaving as chief executive because the company’s board found he wasn’t being ‘consistently candid in his communications’.

Sam Altman has been ousted as CEO of OpenAI. Picture: AFP

OpenAI pushed out co-founder Sam Altman as chief executive officer, saying he wasn’t being “consistently candid in his communications” with the artificial-intelligence company’s board.

The startup said Friday that its board concluded after a review that Altman’s actions, which it didn’t specify, were “hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.” The company’s statement, unusually candid for such a situation, said: “The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.” Altman couldn’t be reached for comment.

In a post on X, the former Twitter, 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.

will have more to say about what’s next later.

🫡

— Sam Altman (@sama) November 17, 2023

The announcement shocked even people close to OpenAI and came after a week in which Altman appeared several times in public to talk about the company. It was a stunning turnabout for a man who had become the face of the generative-AI boom that has gripped tech executives and regular people since OpenAI made its ChatGPT service public almost exactly a year ago.

Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, will serve as interim CEO, effective immediately, OpenAI said. As a part of the transition, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, another co-founder, will step down as chairman of the board, though remain in his role at the company, reporting to the CEO.

Microsoft, which has invested $US13 billion into OpenAI for a 49% stake, said the relationship between the two companies would be unaffected by Altman’s departure.

“We have a long-term partnership with OpenAI, and Microsoft remains committed to Mira and their team as we bring this next era of AI to our customers,” a Microsoft spokesman said in a statement.

Altman co-founded OpenAI around eight years ago and has been seen as a driver of the artificial-intelligence revolution, thanks in large part to last year’s launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT bot, whose ability to produce humanlike writing made it one of the most viral products in the history of technology.

A longtime venture capital executive, Altman helped guide OpenAI from a small nonprofit into a company valued at tens of billions of dollars at near record speed, thanks in part to the launch of a for-profit arm that enabled it to raise money from backers including Microsoft.

In recent weeks, Altman has kept up a steady schedule of public speaking, talking about OpenAI’s plans and his vision for a future defined by AI.

Altman spoke on a panel at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, where he talked about how artificial intelligence was his life’s work and expected major new advances to come from the field next year.

The Wall Street Journal