OpenAI President Greg Brockman quits as shocked employees hold all-hands meeting
On Friday afternoon, not long after news of CEO Sam Altman's abrupt and surprising departure from OpenAI began spreading online, the company held an all-hands meeting at its headquarters in San Francisco, reports The Information. During the meeting, interim CEO Mira Murati attempted to reassure the shocked employees that the search for a new CEO is underway.
Hours later, OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman posted a statement on X, saying that after he learned today's news he sent a message to the OpenAI team: "based on todays news, i quit." Brockman, a key technical figure involved in many of the company's successes, was relieved of his OpenAI board membership on Friday, but the company initially announced he would be staying on.
Earlier on Friday, OpenAI released a blog post titled "OpenAI announces leadership transition" where it announced that Atlman "was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities." In a response post on X, Altman wrote, "I loved my time at openai," and hinted at future plans without revealing any details.
OpenAI co-founder and head of research Ilya Sutskever may have led the "coup". Other board members involved in the removal include Adam D'Angelo (Quora CEO), Tasha McCauley (RAND Corporation), and Helen Toner (Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology).
See also:
WTF is going on at OpenAI? We have theories
Why Was Sam Altman Fired As CEO of OpenAI?
Everything We Know About OpenAI's Shocking Ouster of Sam Altman
On the other hand . . .
OpenAI board attempts to hit "Ctrl-Z" in talks with Altman to return as CEO
Just over a day since his surprise firing that sent shock waves through the tech industry, the OpenAI board is reportedly engaging in discussions with Sam Altman to potentially return as CEO of the company, according to The Verge, citing people familiar with the matter. The outlet says that Altman is "ambivalent" about returning and would want significant changes to how the company is run.
The move would be a dramatic about-face for the board, which has faced intense scrutiny from all corners of the tech world for abruptly and surprisingly firing one of the tech industry's most high-profile CEOs. Altman was popular with both Microsoft leadership and OpenAI staff, and his firing came as a shock to employees, who reportedly pushed back against OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever's handling of the move during an all-hands meeting on Friday. The overtures toward Altman suggest that the board may have been surprised by the sizable reaction from the world at large.
[...] If Altman were to return to OpenAI, we do not yet know what that would mean for Sutskever's position at the company, or if others like Brockman and the three senior OpenAI researchers who also resigned would return with Altman as well.
"The best case for the board is that Sam and Greg come back, the 4 board members resign, and lay low for a long while," speculated venture capitalist Will Hubbard on X. "The worst case for the board is that Sam and Greg start another company, take all OpenAI's talent and future funding, and have a lawsuit brought against them." No plans for a lawsuit have been announced.
Related Stories
On Wednesday, OpenAI announced that Sam Altman has officially returned to the ChatGPT-maker as CEO—accompanied by Mira Murati as CTO and Greg Brockman as president—resuming their roles from before the shocking firing of Altman that threw the company into turmoil two weeks ago. Altman says the company did not lose a single employee or customer throughout the crisis.
"I have never been more excited about the future. I am extremely grateful for everyone's hard work in an unclear and unprecedented situation, and I believe our resilience and spirit set us apart in the industry," wrote Altman in an official OpenAI news release. "I feel so, so good about our probability of success for achieving our mission."
Previously:
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Purged, President Brockman Quits, but Maybe They'll All Come Back After All - 20231119
On Friday afternoon Pacific Time, OpenAI announced the appointment of three new members to the company's board of directors and released the results of an independent review of the events surrounding CEO Sam Altman's surprise firing last November. The current board expressed its confidence in the leadership of Altman and President Greg Brockman, and Altman is rejoining the board.
[...]
The independent review, conducted by law firm WilmerHale, investigated the circumstances that led to Altman's abrupt removal from the board and his termination as CEO on November 17, 2023. Despite rumors to the contrary, the board did not fire Altman because they got a peek at scary new AI technology and flinched. "WilmerHale... found that the prior Board's decision did not arise out of concerns regarding product safety or security, the pace of development, OpenAI's finances, or its statements to investors, customers, or business partners."Instead, the review determined that the prior board's actions stemmed from a breakdown in trust between the board and Altman.
[...]
Altman's surprise firing occurred after he attempted to remove Helen Toner from OpenAI's board due to disagreements over her criticism of OpenAI's approach to AI safety and hype. Some board members saw his actions as deceptive and manipulative. After Altman returned to OpenAI, Toner resigned from the OpenAI board on November 29.In a statement posted on X, Altman wrote, "i learned a lot from this experience. one think [sic] i'll say now: when i believed a former board member was harming openai through some of their actions, i should have handled that situation with more grace and care. i apologize for this, and i wish i had done it differently."
[...]
After OpenAI's announcements on Friday, resigned OpenAI board members Toner and Tasha McCauley released a joint statement on X. "Accountability is important in any company, but it is paramount when building a technology as potentially world-changing as AGI," they wrote. "We hope the new board does its job in governing OpenAI and holding it accountable to the mission. As we told the investigators, deception, manipulation, and resistance to thorough oversight should be unacceptable."
Previously on SoylentNews:
Sam Altman Officially Back as OpenAI CEO: "We Didn't Lose a Single Employee" - 20231202
AI Breakthrough That Could Threaten Humanity Might Have Been Key To Sam Altman's Firing - 20231124
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Purged, President Brockman Quits, but Maybe They'll All Come Back After All - 20231119
(Score: 4, Insightful) by looorg on Sunday November 19 2023, @02:39PM (6 children)
I'm sure all other companies in the fields immediately made him offers of endless cash, do whatever he wants, coke and hookers or whatever he is into or likes. Where ever he goes to next, or starts, is instant stardom since he is more or less the poster-boy for the entire field. Not entirely sure why that, pioneer status?, is but I guess that doesn't matter.
The entire board of OpenAI looks like idiots at the moment, and Microsoft is I gather less then pleased about it all. Not sure how they reasoned if they just thought he was going to go quietly into the night and nobody would notice. That he now more or less dragged a handful of other senior staff with him doesn't make things better for them either. I gather the board will now be forced to be more explicit about why they got rid of him -- and it better be sordid and, near, criminal if they want to survive this. Cause without that the company and the board is a lot more fucked then he is. He can just get another better job anywhere. While they might be field pariah by now.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19 2023, @03:09PM (3 children)
> He can just get another better job anywhere.
More likely, with all the money he made in the sale to MS, he's going to be jetting away to his private tropical island. He'll jet into elite AI conferences for the LOLs.
(Score: 2) by liar on Sunday November 19 2023, @05:47PM (2 children)
Ousted OpenAI CEO makes plans for new artificial intelligence company https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/ousted-openai-ceo-new-company- [sfgate.com] "OpenAI's board of directors shocked the tech industry Friday when it abruptly fired Altman from his position as CEO. By Friday night, the two men were working on their plans to pitch investors on their next venture. The Information first reported on their plans for a new initiative." ... "He also spoke with Masayoshi Son, CEO and billionaire founder of the tech conglomerate SoftBank, about investing in an effort to build an AI device with Jony Ive, former chief design officer at Apple."
Noli nothis permittere te terere.
(Score: 3, Funny) by liar on Sunday November 19 2023, @05:54PM (1 child)
So, Terminator 2?
Noli nothis permittere te terere.
(Score: 1) by cereal_burpist on Monday November 20 2023, @04:16AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19 2023, @04:49PM (1 child)
Sounds like my wife's soap opera.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Monday November 20 2023, @01:34AM
So does reality imitate art.
(Score: 2, Troll) by crafoo on Sunday November 19 2023, @03:06PM (6 children)
with the RAND corp and Georgetown Uni involved you know that there is some serious crime and foreign influence peddling involved. not surprising given openai's dominant position in this new industry. the knives are out. real power politics are underway.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19 2023, @06:22PM
Those people are part of the LessWrong cult too. Really makes you think.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/comments/17xwn4l/comment/k9q61bf/ [reddit.com]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday November 20 2023, @02:04PM (4 children)
(Score: 3, Informative) by liar on Monday November 20 2023, @04:02PM (3 children)
Microsoft just acquired the hottest AI duo in Silicon Valley, Altman and Brockman, while also maintaining its OpenAI partnership. The future of OpenAI seems uncertain, and its efforts to develop artificial general intelligence could be in jeopardy. But everything is moving fast. https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-hires-sam-altman-openai-staff-threaten-quit-1851035418 [gizmodo.com] Early on Monday morning, Microsoft hired Sam Altman to lead a new advanced AI research team after he was ousted from his position at OpenAI last week. Within hours, OpenAI employees threatened to resign en masse with more than 500 out of 750 employees signing a letter demanding that the board resign and Altman be reinstated as CEO. Shockingly, one of the signatories of the open letter was board member Ilya Sutskever who led the ousting of Sam Altman. “I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions,” said Sutskever on Monday, going on to say he never intended to harm OpenAI. “I love everything we’ve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company.” The remaining board members include non-employees Adam D’Angelo, Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner.
OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman will join Altman at the new Microsoft AI venture. The ousting of Sam Altman seems to have completely backfired. On Sunday night, OpenAI’s board hired Emmett Shear, co-founder and former CEO of Twitch, as the new CEO.
Noli nothis permittere te terere.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday November 20 2023, @05:05PM (2 children)
Sounds like it's just formalizing what it had before this hubbub started.
Same is true of Microsoft's stake in all this.
Sounds like a mess. It'll be interesting to see if a case for the outster is presented. If the problem is still there and nonnegotiable, then OpenAI may just have to accept the loss of staff.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Monday November 20 2023, @05:31PM (1 child)
Considering that Microsoft appears to be one of the largest investors in OpenAI I'm surprise they just don't acquire them at this point. Or what is left. Or perhaps that is the plan. Take the senior staff (done!), and some of those 500 people that now demand to quit, or at least on paper. Since Altman is clearly not coming back then if he and Brockman signed with Microsoft to head up some new fantastic AI research division that MS just created out of the blue to cater to them. They'll need staff, good thing then there are about 500 people available that know what to do. The remaining husk will then be purchased for knowledge, pattern etc and the entire 100 million dollar investment MS is written off as a lost investment.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday November 21 2023, @01:28AM
OpenAI closes $300M share sale at $27B-29B valuation [techcrunch.com]
OpenAI in talks to sell shares at $86 billion valuation - Bloomberg News [reuters.com]
This seems like it's going to be a lot cheaper for Microsoft than an outright acquisition would have been, and "OpenAI"* had a weird corporate under nonprofit structure.
It's not as though Microsoft gutted "OpenAI" for free and it will become irrelevant overnight. But the groundwork has been laid for Microsoft to screw them over, and maybe even stop paying the Nvidia tax [theverge.com].
This crazy saga is going to be retold in business textbooks and probably a Hollywood movie.
*"Open" in name only.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Touché) by Mojibake Tengu on Sunday November 19 2023, @04:27PM
If all CEOs out there anywhere been replaced by LLMs yesterday, that would already been too late...
Rust programming language offends both my Intelligence and my Spirit.