Sam Altman, co-founder of OpenAI in 2015, was fired by the board of directors on Friday evening. Photo: Twitter
Chat-GPT Manufacturer OpenAI has hired a new CEO to draw a line under the surprise ouster of founder Sam Altman.
The hiring of former Twitch executive Emmett Shear effectively ends speculation about whether Mr Altman, who was fired days ago amid a dispute over the tech giant's future, could return to OpenAI.
It was suggested on Sunday evening that Mr Altman was considering a return.
Investors and employees rallied around Mr Altman, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, after his shock dismissal by the board on Friday night.
Mr Altman attended the talks at OpenAI's offices on Sunday and tweeted a photo of himself wearing a guest lanyard and official badge with the caption: «First and last time I wear this.»
According to technology website The Information, he was there at the invitation of interim CEO Mira Murati and the rest of the leadership team.
However, it has since emerged that Mr. Altman will not return as CEO and will not return for the post of General Director. that Mr Shear will become the new interim boss.
Mr Shear co-founded Twitch in 2011 but left the Amazon-owned video streaming platform earlier this year.
Following his appointment, Mr Shear released a statement saying Mr Atlman's removal had been handled «very poorly» and had «seriously undermined our trust».
He said he now planned to «hire an independent investigator to look into the entire process leading up to this point.»
Mr. Shear also insisted that Mr. Altman did not leave because of disagreements over the security of the company's technology.
He said: “The board did not remove Sam from his position because of any specific disagreement about safety, their reasoning was completely different from that.”
Former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear named new chief executive of OpenAI
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
< Altman, 38, helped build OpenAI into one of the world's most valuable startups and become one of Silicon Valley's biggest names.
His return could cap a bitter power struggle at the startup, which is at the forefront of the artificial intelligence movement and backed by billions of dollars from Microsoft.
Employees were told Saturday night that OpenAI was “optimistic” about Mr. Altman’s return. Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg, investors have already proposed new board members, including former Salesforce co-chief executive and Twitter chairman Bret Taylor.
Microsoft, which invested $13 billion (£10 billion) in OpenAI, saw Shares fell on Friday evening after news of Altman's dismissal became known.
But shares of the tech giant are expected to rise more than 2% on Wall Street on Monday after its chief executive, Satya Nadella, announced he had hired Altman and his OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman to lead a new development team.
mission continues https://t.co/d1pHiFxcSe
— Sam Altman (@sama) November 20, 2023
A number of OpenAI employees, including Ms Murati, publicly expressed their support for Mr Altman over the weekend, posting heart emojis in response to Mr Altman's tweets.
Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said: «The growing consensus among Silicon Valley and Wall Street is that the days of this four-person board of directors are numbered and Altman will return to OpenAI and ultimately Microsoft [will be] on a level playing field.» a stronger position to control OpenAI's strategic direction.»
OpenAI's six-member board said Friday night that it «no longer has confidence in [Mr. Altman's] ability to continue to lead OpenAI» because it fired him over the video call.
The company said, that Mr. Altman «has not always been forthcoming with the board of directors, which has interfered with his ability to carry out his duties.»
It has since been reported that the dismissal was the result of disagreements with chief scientific officer Ilya Sutskever over everything Mr. Altman's more commercial plans for the company contrast with its nonprofit spirit.
But Mr. Sutzkever said Monday that he regretted his role in the boardroom coup.
He said: “I deeply regret my involvement in the actions of the board of directors. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we have created together and will do everything possible to reunite the company.»
ChatGPT, which allows users to write essays, search for information and write program code, has become an unexpected phenomenon. since it was released less than a year ago. It has more than 100 million users and OpenAI is on the verge of achieving an $86 billion valuation as enterprise clients line up to use its systems.
The technology's success has reignited concerns about the potential risks of artificial intelligence. , leading to government measures such as this month's AI Security Summit at Bletchley Park. At an event hosted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Mr Altman and other AI leaders pledged to allow governments to test their systems before publishing them.
Mr Altman is believed to have been sacked partly because of his efforts . raise money for other businesses.
Late Sunday, Bloomberg reported that he was trying to raise billions of dollars from Middle Eastern investors for a new semiconductor company to challenge Nvidia's control of the artificial intelligence market.
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