Breaking News Sam Altman seems set to return to the job as CEO of OpenAI – from which he was last week suddenly and unexpectedly ejected.
An early Wednesday post to X/Twitter detailed the move as follows:
We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo.
We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this.
Altman also posted* to Elon Musk's social network, as follows:
i love openai, and everything i've done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together. when i decided to join msft on sun evening, it was clear that was the best path for me and the team. with the new board and w satya's support, i'm looking forward to returning to openai, and building on our strong partnership with msft.
Let's parse those two posts, starting with the names of the reconstituted board.
Of the three named directors, only Adam D'Angelo was previously on the board. Bret Taylor served as co-CEO of Salesforce. Larry Summers is a former US treasury secretary.
The existence of a "new board" suggests some who voted for Altman's ouster have themselves been ousted.
Consider, too, Altman's assertion that he has "satya's support." That suggests Microsoft is aware of OpenAI's actions – as it should be, given it owns 49 percent of the joint – and isn't fussed that he never took up his job as boss of a new AI lab within the software giant.
The restoration of Altman appears to be a win for OpenAI's staff, who reportedly threatened to quit if he was not returned to his gig.
Altman's odyssey has had more twists and turns, in less time, than almost any other tech story your correspondent has covered since my career covering tech commenced in 1995. And as OpenAI's post makes clear, there are still details to be figured out.
Something tells me there are more chapters to come in this short saga. The Register is watching and will chronicle whatever happens next. ®
* We've reproduced Altman's Xeet verbatim, including his errant capitalizations.
Source: The register