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Sam Altman will return to OpenAI's board of directors after a review of the events leading up to his dramatic dismissal from the maker of ChatGPT found no evidence that he should have been fired.
Altman was removed from his position as CEO and removed from the board of directors of the artificial intelligence company he co-founded in November. The remaining board members reversed course days later, reinstating him as CEO and resigning instead.
A subsequent review of the boardroom chaos concluded that there had been a significant breakdown in trust between the previous board and Altman, but found no evidence that the CEO had misled investors or pushed product releases at an unsafe pace, according to former Salesforce chief Brett Taylor. , who was appointed Chairman of OpenAI after the dissolution of the previous Board of Directors.
“This was simply a breakdown of trust between the board and Mr. Altman,” Taylor said, adding that the previous board “acted in good faith and did not anticipate some subsequent instability.”
“I'm glad this whole thing is over. Over the last few months, it's been frustrating to see some people with an agenda trying to stir up leaks in the press to try to hurt the company and hurt the mission. They haven't worked. They've hurt OpenAI and the mission,” Altman said Friday.
Altman's return to the board leaves the CEO with the same formal powers he had before the November coup. But his influence on the company has arguably increased since then.
The vast majority of employees and OpenAI's biggest backers, including Microsoft, pushed for Altman's return to his position after the previous board failed to provide clear evidence of major wrongdoing in November — making clear they view the 38-year-old Altman as a core part of the success of the company. OpenAI.
The company has become Silicon Valley's hottest startup since launching its ChatGPT chatbot in November 2022, sending the company's private valuation skyrocketing to about $80 billion and launching a full-scale race to develop and deploy generative artificial intelligence. Technology across a range of applications.
The November drama highlighted the tension in OpenAI's unusual structure, where a nonprofit board charged with benefiting all of humanity governs a for-profit company that has become a commercial giant.
It also drew attention to Altman's complex web of business interests, which include multiple investment vehicles and independent ventures, as well as OpenAI.
The company said on Friday that it will adopt new corporate governance guidelines, introduce new board committees and a hotline for whistleblowers, and strengthen its policy on conflicts of interest.
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In the wake of the boardroom coup, Taylor commissioned the law firm WilmerHale to conduct an independent investigation into Altman's conduct and the decision to fire him.
After concluding that review on Friday, Taylor's special committee expressed “full confidence” in the leadership of Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman.
OpenAI announced three more new board members on Friday: Sue Desmond Hellman, former president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Nicole Seligman, former president of Sony Entertainment; and Fidji Simo, CEO of Instacart. Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers was appointed to the board of directors late last year. Former board member, Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo, remains in his position.
More board members will be appointed, according to Taylor.
