Sam Altman Out And Then In: Meet New Board Of Directors After Days of Chaos In Company Boardroom

When Sam Altman was on November 16 asked to join the Google Meet where he was to be informed of the board of directors’ decision to oust him as the CEO of OpenAI the next day, he was in Las Vegas for the biggest party of the weekend. After the call on Friday, the news soon spread like wildfire causing upheaval in the global tech corporate world.

Soon after, Microsoft, which has a significant stake in the ChatGPT maker, reacted swiftly to the development, with its CEO Satya Nadella offering Sam Altman to head its new advanced AI research team.

This shook OpenAI’s board. Its co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who also headed the board, said he “deeply regret” his participation in the board’s actions.

On November 22, OpenAI’s board, which sacked Sam Altman saying it no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI, saw a reshuffle. As part of the rejig, Ilya Sutskever has been removed from the board. McCauley (tech entrepreneur) and Helen Toner (director of strategy and foundational research grants at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology) have also been removed.

OpenAI’s New Board of Directors

Bret Taylor, who is a former co-CEO of Salesforce, will now serve as the chair of the board. Apart from this, he is also a member of the Shopify’s board. Earlier, he has also served as the chairman of the board of X, earlier known as Twitter.

Other members of the board are Larry Summers, former secretary of the treasury, and Adam D’Angelo, co-founder and CEO of Quora.

D’Angelo was also on the earlier board of directors that ousted Altman and has been retained on the revamped board.

A Short Timeline of What Happened At OpenAI

November 16: OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever sent Altman a message on November 16 to schedule a meeting on November 17.

November 17: Sam Altman was sacked by ChatGPT maker OpenAI as its CEO and director after its board said it “no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI”. Mira Murati was appointed interim CEO.

November 18: Investors push for Altman’s return. There were reports that Sam Altman could return to OpenAI.

November 19: Sam Altman’s return seemed difficult as the company announced its new interim CEO Emmett Shear, the co-founder of Twitch. He replaced Mira Murati.

November 20: Shocks felt after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, along with their colleagues, will be joining Microsoft’s new advanced AI research team, with Altman as its head.

– Over 500 employees threaten to resign.

– Ilya Sutskever expresses regret for participating in the board’s decision to sack Sam Altman.

November 21: Satya Nadella indicates openness to Sam Altman’s return to OpenAI, rather than joining Microsoft as initially announced. He said that regardless of what happens, though, OpenAI needs governance changes.

November 22: Sam Altman is back as CEO Of OpenAI. Greg Brockman also joins back. OpenAI in a statement says, “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board.”