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OpenAI directors are in talks with Sam Altman to allow him to be reinstated to the board, four days after their decision to fire him plunged the generative artificial intelligence startup into turmoil.
A deal to unify the company by bringing back its former chief executive alongside the remaining directors would be a compromise for both sides. More than 95 percent of OpenAI employees signed a letter this week calling for Altman’s resignation and reinstatement by the board, while a trio of reluctant directors remain adamant that his firing was justified.
The option, first reported by Bloomberg, is one of several being discussed by the nonprofit board that ultimately controls OpenAI, which spectacularly removed Altman and his co-founder Greg Brockman as directors last week, according to people with direct knowledge of the negotiations . After Brockman was stripped of his position as CEO, he left the company on Friday.
The company’s employees — led by executives Mira Murati, Brad Lightcap and Jason Wong — have lobbied hard for the co-founders and pressed the board for more detailed answers about the reasons for Altman’s firing. But as of Tuesday afternoon, the sides had not reached an agreement on the company’s future.
The departures of Altman and Brockman sparked a chaotic few days at OpenAI, which has become Silicon Valley’s most famous startup since launching its ChatGPT chatbot a year ago, sparking a boom in generative AI.
Ilya Sutskever, a third co-founder, was one of the four directors who voted to remove Altman. Under growing pressure from his colleagues, Sutskever signed the letter calling on the board to reverse course and apologized on social media on Monday.
“I deeply regret my involvement in the board’s actions,” he wrote on X: “I never intended to harm OpenAI. “I love everything we have built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company.” Sutskever did not say whether he would step down from the board.
This meant that three directors were against Altman’s return: Adam D’Angelo, managing director of the question-and-answer service Quora; technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley; and Helen Toner of the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University.
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The trio came under increasing pressure from employees and investors at OpenAI’s for-profit organization to explain their decision and change course.
Before Altman was fired, there were questions internally about whether the pace of AI development at the company was safe and whether there could be potential conflicts with the 38-year-old entrepreneur’s side projects, which range from cryptocurrency to nuclear fission. The board has also lost confidence in Altman, according to a person familiar with her thinking.
However, the company’s investors say they were left in the dark about the exact reason for his firing.
Emmett Shear, co-founder of video streaming service Twitch, whom the board named interim chief executive on Sunday, also called for an independent investigation into how the decision to oust Altman came about and vowed to reform the company’s management.
Originally posted 2023-11-22 00:00:17.