Despite continuing talks to renegotiate his return on Sunday, Sam Altman, a pivotal participant in the artificial intelligence revolution, will not be taking over as CEO of OpenAI. One of the most heated boardroom confrontations in Silicon Valley just became more complicated because of this development.
Over the weekend, Altman was unexpectedly fired from his position as CEO of OpenAI, a decision that rocked the company’s staff and caught investors, including Microsoft, off guard.
Emmett Shear, a co-founder of Twitch, the well-known video game broadcasting service that Amazon purchased in 2014, has been named as OpenAI’s acting CEO. According to information from a source acquainted with the matter, he will succeed Mira Murati, who was named as an acting CEO during a management reorganisation on Friday.
Sam Altman’s resignation was not entirely explained in the announcement from OpenAI, although it did raise some questions over his inconsistent and “candid” contact with the board. The corporation also removed its president and chairman, Greg Brockman, from the board. However, Brockman announced his resignation soon after the press release, stating that he and Sam were taken aback by this abrupt move.
According to a source who is closely associated with OpenAI, it’s definitely insane. Overnight, so much worth and purpose were obliterated.
On Sunday, Altman was in the OpenAI headquarters having talks with people about maybe coming back to work for the firm. Discussions on Altman’s potential return and the prospect of adding new members to the board in place of the current ones were held with the board, investors, and Microsoft, among other companies. Several possibilities were mentioned, such as Sheryl Sandberg, the former chief operating officer of Facebook, and Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb.
However, by late Sunday night, these negotiations had come to a standstill, and the board announced to the staff that Emmett Shear had been named temporary CEO.
