Sam Altman and Greg Brockman were “shocked and saddened by what the board did” and are still trying to figure out what exactly happened. The former CEO and the former President of OpenAI have published a post on X, sharing the details of what they do know and how they found out about the former being fired. Apparently, company co-founder Ilya Sutskever invited Altman for a meeting at noon on Friday, which was then attended by the whole board except for Brockman. It was at that meeting that Altman found out he was being fired and that OpenAI was going to announce it “very soon.”
Shortly after that, Sutskever reportedly invited Brockman to a separate Google Meet conference, where he was told that Altman had gotten fired and that he was being removed from the board. However, the board members told him that he was “vital to the company and would retain his role.” Brockman chose to quit on his own. The two former OpenAI executives also said that the rest of the company’s management team outside of interim CEO Mira Murati only found out about the board’s decision after Altman was already removed from his post. “The outpouring of support has been really nice; thank you, but please don’t spend any time being concerned,” their joint statement reads. “We will be fine. Greater things coming soon.”
Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today.
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.
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We too are still trying to figure out exactly….
— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023
i love you all.
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.
one takeaway: go tell your friends how great you think they are.
— Sam Altman (@sama) November 18, 2023
While OpenAI’s c-suite shakeup might have come as a surprise for onlookers, employees were reportedly very much aware that turmoil was already brewing within the organization. According to a report from The Information, Altman’s ouster followed internal arguments on whether OpenAI was developing artificial intelligence technology in a safe manner. During the all-hands meeting after Altman’s firing, employees asked Sutskever if the CEO’s removal was a “coup” or a “hostile takeover.” That seems to imply that some personnel were wondering whether the organization’s leadership removed Altman because he was commercializing OpenAI’s technology too quickly at the expense of potential safety concerns.
Bloomberg says Altman and Sutskever were the two people within the organization who butted heads the most when it came to the speed of development and the company’s commercialization. Sutskever is one of the two employees leading a team within OpenAI that’s dedicated to preventing its technologies from going rogue.
Renowned journalist and podcast host Kara Swisher posted similar information. She said employees felt that “the profit direction of the company under Altman and the speed of development” were at odds with the “nonprofit side dedicated to more safety and caution.” Swisher also expects more major departures of “top folks” at OpenAI.
Sources tell me that the profit direction of the company under Altman and the speed of development, which could be seen as too risky, and the nonprofit side dedicated to more safety and caution were at odds. One person on the Sam side called it a “coup,” while another said it was…
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) November 18, 2023
These concerns over the safety of AI development within the organization didn’t pop up overnight, however. OpenAI has been grappling with the issue from the beginning, and it’s the reason why a group of employees left in 2020 to form their own startup that became known as Anthropic. Still, investors were blindsided by Altman’s firing, Forbes reports. Even Microsoft, which pledged to invest $10 billion into the organization over the next few years, reportedly learned about his removal a minute before the announcement went out.
The unexpected ousting of Sam Altman and the internal strife within OpenAI have certainly set off a frenzy of speculation in the tech world. Clearly, there were fundamental disagreements within the organization concerning the direction and pace of AI development. These differences have led to a leadership shakeup that has stunned employees and investors alike.
It remains to be seen how OpenAI will navigate these challenges and who will step in to lead the organization moving forward. As two of the pivotal figures behind the company’s founding, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman have expressed their gratitude for the support they’ve received during this difficult time. Their assurance that “greater things [are] coming soon” reflects the resilience and determination that has marked OpenAI from its inception. Despite the upheaval it is currently experiencing, the company’s ongoing pursuit of cutting-edge AI research and innovation will undoubtedly continue to be a significant force in the tech industry.
