Sam Altman dumped by ChatGPT creator OpenAI
OpenAI – the company behind artificial intelligence giant ChaptGPT – has dramatically sacked its CEO Sam Altman amid accusations of not being truthful with board members.
The 38-year-old entrepreneur will be temporarily replaced by the company’s Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, while it looks to appoint a new CEO.
“Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities,” said OpenAI in a brief statement.
Further shockwaves were sent through the industry this morning when the Delaware-based firm’s co-founder and president, Greg Brockman, also announced his sudden departure.
Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “Based on today’s news, I quit.”
It is understood Altman only learned he had been fired moments before the board issued an internal memo to all staff.
A clearly shocked Altman provided a fleeting response ahead of meetings with lawyers to assess the legality of his dismissal.
“I loved my time at OpenAI,” he said.
“It was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. Most of all I loved working with such talented people. Will have more to say about what’s next later.”
Brockman released further details from his version of events, saying he and Altman were both ‘shocked and saddened’ by what the board had done.
“Let us first say thank you to all the incredible people who we have worked with at OpenAI, our customers, our investors, and all of those who have been reaching out,” he began.
“We too are still trying to figure out exactly what happened. Here is what we know: Last night, Sam got a text from Ilya asking to talk at noon Friday. Sam joined a Google Meet and the whole board, except Greg, was there. Ilya told Sam he was being fired and that the news was going out very soon.
“At 12:19pm, Greg got a text from Ilya asking for a quick call. At 12:23pm, Ilya sent a Google Meet link. Greg was told that he was being removed from the board (but was vital to the company and would retain his role) and that Sam had been fired.
“Around the same time, OpenAI published a blog post. As far as we know, the management team was made aware of this shortly after, other than Mira who found out the night prior. The outpouring of support has been really nice; thank you, but please don’t spend any time being concerned. We will be fine. Greater things coming soon.”