- ChatGPT creator OpenAI on Friday sacked CEO Sam Altman as it “no longer had confidence in his ability” to head the Microsoft-backed firm.
- OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman on Saturday issued a joint statement, hours after the ChatGPT-maker sacked its CEO and top executive, respectively.
- Altman helped start OpenAI as a non-profit research laboratory in 2015.
- He predicted AI will prove to be “the greatest leap forward of any of the big technological revolutions we’ve had so far.”
- OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman said he is departing from the maker of generative artificial intelligence tools.
- Sam Altman also posted on X and said that it was “a weird experience” in many ways.
- Meanwhile, OpenAI said that Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, will serve as interim CEO.
ChatGPT maker OpenAI on Friday fired its CEO Sam Altman and removed its co-founder Greg Brockman from the board over a “quick” call on Google Meet. Taking to his official X account, Mr Brockman on Saturday said that he and Sam were “shocked and saddened” by what the board did and that they were “still trying to figure out” exactly what happened.
“At 12:19 pm, Greg got a text from Ilya asking for a quick call. At 12:23 pm, 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,” he added. “As far as we know, the management team was made aware of this shortly after, other than Mira (Murati) who found out the night prior,” Mr Brockman said.
He also said that the “outpouring of support” has been really nice and that they will be fine. “Greater things coming soon,” he said. Sam Altman also posted on X and said that it was “a weird experience” in many ways.
“Today was a weird experience in many ways. but one unexpected one is that it has been sorta like reading your own eulogy while you’re still alive. The outpouring of love is awesome,” he said.
Earlier on Friday, the board of directors of Microsoft-backed OpenAI announced that Sam Altman will depart as CEO and leave the board of directors.
“Mr 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. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI,” an official statement read.
Mr Altman, 38, became a tech world sensation with the release of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot with unprecedented capabilities, churning out human-level content like poems or artwork in just seconds.
Meanwhile, OpenAI said that Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, will serve as interim CEO.
(With inputs from agencies)
