Sam Altman's return to OpenAI reaches impasse over board role
On November 17, the abrupt announcement of the sacking of OpenAI Sam Altman sent shockwaves around the tech sector. The news came as a surprise as just a few days prior, Altman was on stage at the first-ever OpenAI developer day, announcing new features coming to ChatGPT, its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, as well as the company's other AI ventures. Amidst the confusion following Altman's sacking, reports claimed that his sacking followed a series of disagreements between Altman and his board - in particular OpenAI co-founder and the company's chief scientist Ilya Sutskever.
Alongside, Greg Brockman was also asked to step down from his position as the chairman of the board. Following that, Brockman also resigned from the company from his role as president. However, soon after there were reports claiming that OpenAI investors weren't happy at all with Altman's sacking, and want the former CEO back. However, the discussion seems to have reached an impasse over the makeup and the role of the board, Bloomberg reported quoting people familiar with the matter.
“OpenAI leaders pushing to reinstate Altman include Interim CEO Mira Murati, Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon and Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions”, the report stated.
Altman, who was fired Friday, is open to returning but wants to see governance changes — including the removal of existing board members, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. After facing intense pressure following their decision to fire Altman Friday, the board agreed in principle to step down, but have so far refused to officially do so.
As of midday Sunday, the board had not resigned out
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