OpenAI has reportedly fired co-founder and chief executive officer Sam Altman, announcing Mira Murati as the company's interim CEO. The abrupt announcement reportedly surprised the employees, who only found out about the news on the company's blog post.
The ChatGPT-maker's decision, according to its post, was after the OpenAI's "deliberative review process" that concluded Altman failed to be "candid in his communications with the board.
In the blog post, the board of directors said, "We are grateful for Sam's many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI. At the same time, we believe new leadership is necessary as we move forward. As the leader of the company's research, product, and safety functions, Mira is exceptionally qualified to step into the role of interim CEO. We have the utmost confidence in her ability to lead OpenAI during this transition period."
Reuters reports that many employees were taken aback when they learned of the rapid management shift through an internal announcement and the company's public-facing blog. According to someone familiar with the situation, OpenAI has organized an emergency all-hands meeting for Friday afternoon to share the news with the staff.
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OpenAI's Leadership Transition
Altman reportedly confirmed the announcement by bidding farewell to the company through a post on X stating , "i loved my time at openai. 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."
OpenAI announced the leadership transition with the ChatGPT-maker announcing Mira Murati, the company's current chief technology officer, as its interim CEO. Murati, who formerly worked for Tesla, joined OpenAI in 2018 and eventually rose to the position of chief technical officer. She was in charge of product releases such as ChatGPT.
As part of this transition, Greg Brockman will stand down as chairman of the board but will continue to work for the firm and report to the CEO.
Tech Industry Bids Farewell to Altman
The technology industry was also shocked, with various experts and executives commenting. Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives said, "This is a shocker and Altman was a key ingredient in the recipe for success of OpenAI," he further added by stating, "Microsoft and Nadella will exert more control at OpenAI going forward with Altman gone."
In another post on X, Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive officer of Google, reportedly called Altman "a hero of mine," continuing, "He built a company from nothing to $90 Billion in value, and changed our collective world forever. I can't wait to see what he does next. I, and billions of people, will benefit from his future work- it's going to be simply incredible."
Reuters reports that the entire ramifications of the OpenAI surprise may take years to emerge, but its funding prospects were an immediate concern.
Altman was regarded as a brilliant fundraiser, having negotiated billions of dollars in investment from Microsoft and leading the company's tender offer activities this year, which increased OpenAI's valuation from $29 billion to more than $80 billion.
Thomas Hayes, head of hedge fund Great Hill funding, says that in the short term, it will limit OpenAI's ability to raise additional capital but will be a non-issue in the intermediate time.
Other experts believe Altman's departure, while disruptive, will not derail the popularity of generative AI, OpenAI, or Microsoft's competitive edge.
