Prior to Sam Altman's dismissal on Friday, the OpenAI leader had been actively promoting his organization and the industry. Altman had attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco on Thursday. Greg Brockman, who was serving as both OpenAI's president and board chair, stated that Altman was requested by a board member on Thursday night to present the subsequent day.
Sam Altman's surprise dismissal from OpenAI on Friday sent shockwaves throughout Silicon Valley. Although Altman, 38, was the CEO of one of the world's most sought-after startups, and had become a major figure in generative AI after the company's ChatGPT chatbot went viral in late 2019, there were no hints of strife between the board and executives. Altman had remained vocal about the great power of advanced AI, as well as its risks, and had been calling for regulation. Just last month, reports surfaced that OpenAI was in talks to sell employee shares at a stunning $86 billion valuation, at a time when tech stock valuations were in decline due to a decrease in investment and a general uneasiness in the market. OpenAI soon after topped CNBC's Disruptor 50 list, and Altman was cited as saying, "I think we are deep into a new technological wave and this is, I think, the biggest one in a while." Such a comment and position of power made Altman's ouster perplexing to many in the tech industry, prompting some to make parallels between Altman and Steve Jobs' firing from Apple in 1985. OpenAI's statement on the matter expressed that the board had lost faith in Altman's ability to lead the company, and Mira Murati, previous Chief Technology Officer, was named interim CEO. In the two weeks leading up to Altman's departure, the industry leader had been very active.
Altman was the speaker at OpenAI's DevDay event held in San Francisco, where he unveiled GPT-4 Turbo, the company's most powerful AI model, as well as providing all attendees with entry to all of OpenAI's tools such as DALL-E and PDF upload for ChatGPT. Further, he revealed that price cuts would be made on OpenAI's software and individual customization for ChatGPT would be an available option. A store, being released by OpenAI, was noted as an additional way for OpenAI and its investors to make money off of their products. Coming as a surprise, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella appeared alongside Altman to chat about their partnership and the future of OpenAI. Microsoft set aside an unprecedented $10 billion for AI investment this year, stated PitchBook. Altman concluded his message by expressing his enthusiasm for the pair's teamwork in "building AGI together," (Artificial General Intelligence).
ChatGPT experienced a major crash in the morning, with users being told that it was at capacity. The issue was fixed after about an hour, but further difficulties occurred later in the day. OpenAI revealed in the evening that this was due to a DDoS attack and the issues carried on into the following day before being addressed.
Altman shared on X (previously known as Twitter) that ChatGPT Plus sign-ups will be paused temporarily due to the huge influx of requests following the DevDay revelations. He explained they wish to ensure each user has an optimal experience, which has been hindered by the volume of traffic surpassing their capacity.
Altman attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco to deliver a talk concerning AI.
At 3:28 p.m. ET on Friday, OpenAI released a blog post announcing the departure of Altman from his role as chairman of the board, as well as the reduction of Greg Brockman's duties as president. Consequently, the company stated that Brockman would remain as an executive. Subsequently,
Altman declared in his initial remarks about leaving X, that his engagement there was "a metamorphic experience for me on a personal level, and hopefully a tiny bit for the world."
Brockman declared on X that he'd be departing from the firm "in light of today's revelations," and expressed that he is "extremely proud of all that we have co-created since its origins in my residence 8 years ago."
Brockman reported in an X post that Altman was removed as CEO on Thursday night, after being contacted by OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever to join a Google Meet with other board members Tasha McCauley, Adam D'Angelo and Helen Toner. Brockman, who was chairman at the time, was not in attendance. In the meeting, Sutskever informed Altman of his removal, after which Sutskever informed Brockman he was being removed as chairman, though he was allowed to remain president. OpenAI's blog post announcing the removal was released at approximately the same time, though Brockman indicated Murati had only been made aware of the move the night before. Altman subsequently published Brockman's account of the events.
Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap sent a memo to OpenAI staff concerning the termination, stating that the board's decision was unexpected and that Murati has the full backing of the company. The note also stated that "the board's decision was not due to any misdeeds or any issues relating to our financial, business, safety, or security/privacy procedures." CNBC's Jordan Novet provided assistance for this report. Watch: OpenAI announces that Sam Altman is leaving the position of CEO.
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