Sam Altman is returning as CEO of OpenAI just few days after his ouster from the startup. Open AI is one of the world’s most valuable startups in the face of Artificial Intelligence boom.
Sam is returning as the Chief Executive Officer and the board is to be led by Bret Taylor. Bret Taylor is the former Co-CEO of Salesforce Inc. He too threatened to quit his position after Sam Altman’s ouster. Other directors include, Larry Summers, Adam D’Angelo.
Adan D’Angelo has been selected to be part of the new board despite him being part of the board that dismissed Altman.
“I’m looking forward to returning to openai,” Altman said in a post on the X social media platform late on Tuesday.
After firing Sam Altman on Friday, the board gave a scant explanation for this ouster. One of the reasons were that Altman lacked candor. They mentioned that they needed to protect Open AI’s mission to develop AI that benefits humanity.
“There are still huge questions about why Altman was fired and why Microsoft had been kept in the dark about the decision,” said Danni Hewson, AJ Bell’s head of financial analysis.
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Microsoft’s Involvement
“What does seem clear is that Microsoft will now play a much bigger role, that the partnership will become stronger and the two companies more integrated.”
Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella publicly showed support for Altman. They briefly agreed to hire him at Microsoft. Microsoft shares rose nearly 1% in premarket U.S trading, hitting their highest level on record.
The decision to restore Altman marks a significant win for Microsoft Corp. Microsoft Corp alongside its fellow investors worked to reverse Altman’s firing from OpenAI.
According to Kyle Rodda, an analyst at Capital.com, the return of Altman will ensure a more bold and profit focused AI.
Altman, aged 38, has emerged as the face of the new era of artificial intelligence. His biggest success has been ChatGPT which has led him to meeting with world leaders regularly. On Thursday, he was on a panel at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference discussing the future of AI and its risks.
The agreement to restore Altman followed four days of negotiations. After his dismissal, nearly all of OpenAI’s employees threatened to quit too. Almost 770 employees signed a letter to the board saying they might join Microsoft unless all directors resigned and Altman was reinstated.
Read Also: 500 Open AI Employees Threaten to Quit Over CEO’s Firing
