The company that created ChatGPT was thrown into turmoil Monday after Microsoft hired its ousted CEO and many employees threatened to follow him in a conflict that centered in part on how to build artificial intelligence that\u2019s smarter than humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The developments followed a weekend of drama that\u00a0shocked the AI field\u00a0and fueled speculation about the future of OpenAI, which named a new chief executive on Friday and then replaced her on Sunday. The newest CEO vowed to investigate the firing of co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, who\u2019s been instrumental in OpenAI\u2019s transformation from a nonprofit research laboratory into a world-renowned commercial startup that inaugurated the era of\u00a0generative artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft, which has been a close partner of the company and\u00a0invested billions of dollars\u00a0in it, announced that Altman and OpenAI\u2019s former president, Greg Brockman, would lead its new advanced AI research team. Brockman, also an OpenAI co-founder, quit in protest after Altman was fired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hundreds of OpenAI employees, including other top executives, threatened to join them at Microsoft in an open letter addressed to OpenAI\u2019s four-member board that called for the board\u2019s resignation and Altman\u2019s return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf the architects and vision and brains behind these products have now left, the company will be a shell of what it once was,\u201d said Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University\u2019s Tech Policy Institute. \u201cAll of that brain trust going to Microsoft will then mean that these impressive tools will be coming out of Microsoft. It will be hard to see OpenAI continue to thrive as a company.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft CEO\u00a0Satya Nadella wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was \u201cextremely excited\u201d to bring on the pair and looked \u201cforward to getting to know\u201d the new management team at OpenAI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Altman later said on X that his top priority with Nadella is to ensure that OpenAI \u201ccontinues to thrive\u201d and that it is committed to \u201cfully providing continuity of operations to our partners and customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OpenAI said Friday that Altman was pushed out after a review found he was \u201cnot consistently candid in his communications\u201d with the board of directors, which had lost confidence in his ability to lead the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an X post Monday, OpenAI\u2019s new interim chief executive, Emmett Shear, said he would hire an independent investigator to look into Altman\u2019s ouster and write a report within 30 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear that the process and communications around Sam\u2019s removal\u201d were handled \u201cvery badly,\u201d wrote Shear, who co-founded Twitch, an Amazon-owned livestreaming service popular with video gamers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said he also plans in the next month to \u201creform the management and leadership team in light of recent departures.\u201d After that, Shear said, he would \u201cdrive changes in the organization,\u201d including \u201csignificant governance changes if necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Originally started as a nonprofit, and still governed as one, OpenAI\u2019s stated mission is to safely build AI that is \u201cgenerally smarter than humans.\u201d Debates have swirled around that goal and whether it conflicts with the company\u2019s increasing commercial success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reason behind the board\u2019s removal of Altman was not a \u201cspecific disagreement on safety,\u201d nor does the board oppose commercialization of AI models, Shear said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OpenAI last week declined to answer questions about Altman\u2019s alleged lack of candor. The company\u2019s statement said his behavior was hindering the board\u2019s ability to exercise its responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A key driver of the shakeup, OpenAI\u2019s co-founder, chief scientist and board member Ilya Sutskever, expressed regrets for his participation in the ouster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we\u2019ve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company,\u201d he said Monday on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The open letter began circulating Monday. According to a copy obtained by The Associated Press, the number of signatures amounted to a majority of the company\u2019s 770 employees. The AP was not able to independently confirm that all of the signatures were from OpenAI employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEveryone at @OpenAI is united,\u201d one of the signatories, research scientist Noam Brown, said on X. \u201cThis is not a civil war. Unless Sam and Greg are brought back, there will be no OpenAI left to govern.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter alleged that after Altman\u2019s firing, the company\u2019s remaining executive team had recommended that the board resign and be replaced with a \u201cqualified board\u201d that could stabilize the company. But the board resisted and said allowing OpenAI to be destroyed would be consistent with its mission, according to the letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OpenAI has said since its 2015 founding that its goal is to advance AI in a way that benefits all humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A company spokesperson confirmed that the board received the letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft declined to comment on the letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Altman was pushed out, he stirred speculation about coming back into the fold in a series of tweets. He posted a selfie with an OpenAI guest pass Sunday, saying this is \u201cfirst and last time i ever wear one of these.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hours earlier, he tweeted, \u201ci love the openai team so much,\u201d which drew heart replies from Brockman and Mira Murati, OpenAI\u2019s\u00a0chief technology officer\u00a0who was initially named as interim CEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not clear what transpired between the announcement of Murati\u2019s interim role Friday and Shear\u2019s hiring, though she was among several employees Monday who tweeted, \u201cOpenAI is nothing without its people.\u201d Altman replied to many with heart emojis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The board consists of Sutskever, Quora CEO Adam D\u2019Angelo, tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner of the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology. None of them responded to calls or emails seeking comment. Because of its nonprofit structure, the board differs from most startup boards that are typically led by investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Altman helped catapult ChatGPT to global fame based on its ability to respond to questions and produce human-like passages of text in a seemingly natural way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past year, he has become Silicon Valley\u2019s most in-demand voice on the promise and potential\u00a0dangers of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this year, he\u00a0went on a world tour\u00a0to meet with government officials, drawing big crowds at public events as he discussed the risks of AI and attempts to\u00a0regulate the emerging technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as money poured into OpenAI this year, helping to advance its development of more capable AI, it also brought more conflict around whether that fast pace of commercialization fit with the startup\u2019s founding vision, said Kreps, the Cornell University professor. But rather than slow that pace, Altman\u2019s ouster may simply shift it out of OpenAI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Altman \u201creally has a walk-on-water aura, and I think a lot of it is well deserved,\u201d Kreps said. \u201cHe\u2019s the one who has attracted the investment, and he\u2019ll do that wherever it is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft\u2019s shares rose 2% on Monday and hit an all-time high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AP and OpenAI have a\u00a0licensing and technology agreement\u00a0allowing OpenAI access to part of the AP\u2019s text archives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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