Sam Altman returns to OpenAI board of directors after investigation into his firing

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testifies before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law for an oversight hearing to examine the rules governing artificial intelligence in 2023. OpenAI’s board of directors reinstated Altman after an independent investigation determined the company’s previous board had no reason to fire him in November. File Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE

March 8 (UPI) — ChatGPT creator OpenAI announced Friday that co-founder and CEO Sam Altman would return to its board of directors after several months of leadership upheaval.

Altman’s return follows an independent investigation, which found his behavior did not mandate his removal.

The probe, conducted by law firm WilmerHale, declared the previous board fired Altman due to a breakdown of trust between the board and him.

WilmerHale also found the board moved “without advance notice to key stakeholders, and without a full inquiry or an opportunity for Mr. Altman to address the prior board’s concerns.”

According to the investigation, the board believed Altman’s removal would fix management challenges, but it did not anticipate Altman’s high level of support among OpenAI employees, many of whom threatened to quit unless he was reinstated.

The then-board of directors fired Altman as CEO and director in November but unexpectedly rehired him within weeks. The organization reportedly had three CEOs in the span of three days.

After Altman’s return, OpenAI fired the directors responsible for his ousting and hired former White House official Larry Summers and Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor.

The organization also added former Gates Foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellman, former Sony General Counsel Nicole Seligman and Instacart CEO Fidji Simo.

The New York Times reported that OpenAI Chief Technology Officer — and CEO for a day — Mira Murati had complained to the board about Altman’s management style.

Murati in a post on X said the previous board had tried to scapegoat her to save face with the media.

Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever also played a role in Altman’s ouster, but later apologized and publicly backed Altman.

Altman, on a call with reporters, indicated that he would rather put the past behind him. He said Murati “has done an amazing job helping run this company,” and that Sutskever, “is awesome,” and “I hope we work together for the rest of our careers.”

He said he was disappointed by the “leaks” intended “to pit us against each other,” and he is “pleased this whole thing is over.”

In the wake of the leadership turmoil, OpenAI said Friday that it would “strengthen” its conflict of interest policy and add a whistleblower hotline for employees and contractors.

OpenAI’s original founders have said they established the nonprofit as a check on the dangers posed by emergent AI.

But Altman, Sutskever and co-founder Greg Brockman in 2019 formed OpenAI LP as a for-profit arm of the larger nonprofit entity. That arm led to OpenAI being valued at $90 billion within a few years.

Co-founder Elon Musk sued OpenAI last week, claiming OpenAI’s for-profit motives and board shakeup represented a breach of contract. OpenAI fired back by publishing several of Musk’s emails showing he originally was on board with a for-profit model.

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