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Sam Altman to return as CEO of OpenAI

Sam Altman and OpenAI have reached an agreement in principle to bring the CEO back to the AI company.

Asif Khan

November 21, 2023 10:15 PM

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Sam Altman to return as CEO of OpenAI after the two parties have reached an agreement in principle.

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

It's been a tumultuous week for OpenAI after the board of directors ousted CEO Sam Altman without providing many details for the reason. The board then went on to hire Emmett Shear as interim CEO, but the former CEO of Twitch asked for details surrounding Altman's termination before fully committing. After what appears to be a premature deal by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Sunday evening before the European markets opened announcing a new advanced AI research division to be run by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, both men are returning to OpenAI.

Sam Altman tweeted the following statement:

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 looking forward to returning to openai, and building on our strong partnership with msft.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella quote tweeted Sam with this statement:

We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board. We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance. Sam, Greg, and I have talked and agreed they have a key role to play along with the OAI leadership team in ensuring OAI continues to thrive and build on its mission. We look forward to building on our strong partnership and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners.

Nadella's latest tweet seems to be supportive of this outcome, and other OpenAI employees are all expressing excitement about returning to work with Sam as opposed to working for Microsoft.

Returning to OpenAI & getting back to coding tonight.

— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 22, 2023

At this point in the corporate governance story, one has to ask what caused this kerfuffle? Was OpenAI reaching a decision about the future of AI being made that could have devastating effects on the economy? Am I going to be murdered by a sex robot? These are the tough questions that only humans can ask.

One can only hope that this truly is the end of this board room saga at one of the fastest growing AI tech startups in Silicon Valley and we can all have a nice Thanksgiving weekend buying things and eating while watching football on various streaming services.

Asif Khan

CEO/EIC/EIEIO

Asif Khan is the CEO, EIC, and majority shareholder of Shacknews. He began his career in video game journalism as a freelancer in 2001 for Tendobox.com. Asif is a CPA and was formerly an investment adviser representative. After much success in his own personal investments, he retired from his day job in financial services and is currently focused on new private investments. His favorite PC game of all time is Duke Nukem 3D, and he is an unapologetic fan of most things Nintendo. Asif first frequented the Shack when it was sCary's Shugashack to find all things Quake. When he is not immersed in investments or gaming he is a purveyor of fine electronic music. Asif also has an irrational love of Cleveland sports.