Less than three days after hiring ex-Twitch CEO Emmett Shear as interim CEO on Nov. 20, OpenAI has now backtracked on its decision to let go of Sam Altman following company-wide protests.
In a tweet dated Nov. 22, OpenAI announced it has “reached an agreement in principle” for Altman to return as the company’s CEO, alongside a new initial board composed 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,” OpenAI wrote, concluding the tweet.
On Nov. 20, Shear had expressed gratitude upon receiving the opportunity to lead OpenAI in a long tweet.
“I had recently resigned from my role as CEO of Twitch due to the birth of my now 9 month old son,” Shear wrote, talking about why he left one job to take another. “I took this job because I believe that OpenAI is one of the most important companies currently in existence.”
Notably, those in the Twitch community, including popular creator Ludwig Anders Ahgren, voiced their concerns about Shear’s hiring, considering he didn’t set a good example as the CEO of Twitch.
With the announcement of Altman’s return to OpenAI, Shear said he was pleased with the decision and “glad to have been a part of the solution.”
Leading OpenAI since 2019, Altman has served as one of the biggest game changers in the field of Artificial Intelligence. He was a part of the celebrated startup’s founding team. Yet, in a surprising move on Nov. 17, the board announced its decision to oust Altman because it “no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”
“Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities,” OpenAI revealed in a blog post.
Altman’s exit didn’t just shock the tech community, but it also sparked a company-wide turmoil, with employees, including former interim CEO Mira Murati, and top investors like Microsoft and Sequoia calling for his return.
On the same day as Shear’s appointment to the position of OpenAI’s interim CEO, besides reassuring commitment to partnership with OpenAI, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman “will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team.”
With the recent announcement, however, Nadella applauded OpenAI’s decision to rehire Altman and Brockman.
“Sam, Greg, and I have talked and agreed they have a key role to play along with the OAI leadership team in ensuring OAI continues to thrive and build on its mission. We look forward to building on our strong partnership and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners,” he wrote in a tweet.
