OpenAI Reinstates Sam Altman After Mass Backlash

• Sam Altman has been reinstated as the OpenAI CEO
• OpenAI appointed a new initial board led by Bret Taylor, former co-CEO of Salesforce.
• Greg Brockman also announced his return to OpenAI to resume coding.

<!–

–>

Sam Altman has been reinstated as the CEO of OpenAI, the leading company in the fledgling artificial intelligence industry. Altman’s reinstatement follows days of a rollercoaster of events within the AI company, which led to several of its staff threatening to leave, potentially for Microsoft.

OpenAI announced Altman’s reinstatement on X and noted the appointment of a new initial board led by Bret Taylor, former co-CEO of Salesforce, as the chairman.

The announcement read:

“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 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

On his part, Altman posted on X, noting that he looked forward to returning to OpenAI and building a “strong partnership” with Microsoft.

See Also: Former OpenAI Chief Sam Altman Fired And Hired In One Weekend

The reinstated CEO reaffirmed his love for the AI company and explained that the events of the last few days were in service of keeping this team and its mission together.

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

According to Altman, when he chose to join Microsoft last Sunday, it was clear that was the best path for him and his team. However, Altman’s return to OpenAI seems to have settled the developing chaos, as other team members appear to follow his lead. 

Greg Brockman, former president and co-founder of the company, who voluntarily resigned from the company, posted on X that he was returning to OpenAI and resuming coding tonight.

Returning to OpenAI & getting back to coding tonight.

— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 22, 2023

The recent events appear to end the rollercoaster of events in the AI industry in the past few days. The details of Altman’s firing and rehiring remain unclear, as the company claimed he had been insufficiently “candid” with the board. 

His reinstatement appears to have calmed things down, as the hundreds of OpenAI employees who threatened to leave the company seem to have reversed their decisions.