OpenAI will bring back Sam Altman and appoint new board members after nearly all of its employees threatened to quit over his surprise ouster.
Altman is returning to his role as chief executive officer and the new board will be chaired by Bret Taylor and include Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo, the company said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. It is working “to figure out the details,” the message said.
Altman, who was fired by OpenAI’s board on Friday following disagreements on how fast to develop and monetize artificial intelligence, had been in negotiations with the company to return. Those talks reached an impasse on Sunday in part over pressure from Altman and others for existing board members to resign, according to people familiar with the matter. Instead, the board named a new leader — former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear — and OpenAI’s biggest backer, Microsoft Corp. said it would hire Altman to head up a new in-house AI team.
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.
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) November 22, 2023
We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this.