Topics
later
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Darrell Etherington with files from Getty under license
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Image Credits:Darrell Etherington with files from Getty under license
Cloud Computing
mercantilism
Crypto
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Fundraising
gadget
Gaming
Government & Policy
ironware
layoff
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
surety
societal
Space
Startups
TikTok
Transportation
Venture
More from TechCrunch
outcome
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Podcasts
video
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
get through Us
In a spectacular turn of events late Friday , ex - Y Combinator president Sam Altman was fire as CEO of AI startup OpenAI , the company behind viral AI hits likeChatGPT , GPT-4andDALL - atomic number 99 3 , by OpenAI ’s board of directors . Then , the company ’s longtime president and co - founder , Greg Brockman , resigned — as did three senior OpenAI investigator . And the fallout continues .
It ’s a fast - be active office that we ’re still trying to get to the bottom of . No doubt more will become clear as time goes on . To make it easier to follow all that ’s happened in the meantime , though , we ’ve put together a timeline ; we ’ll do our best to keep it current .
Timeline of Sam Altman’s firing from OpenAI
January 5
The identicalness of OpenAI ’s board observer has been revealed . Accordingto Bloomberg , Microsoft has chosen Dee Templeton , VP for technical school and inquiry partnerships and operations and an advisor to Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott , as its non - voting circuit card observer . Bloomberg says that Templeton has already begun attending dining table meetings ; The Information previouslyreportedthat Templeton was being regard for the part .
November 29
Microsoft gains a board observer
Microsoft will gain representation on the fresh initial board of manager in the sort of a non - voting observer , OpenAI denote . It was n’t immediately clean who this observer might be — only that they wo n’t have an prescribed vote in board business .
November 21
Sam Altman, OpenAI reach agreement on return as CEO and ‘initial’ new board
In a sudden belated announcement , OpenAI revealed that it and Altman “ have achieve an agreement in principle”for him to return as the companionship ’s CEO . In addition to Altman ’s return , its new “ initial ” dining table will includeformer Salesforce chief executive Bret Taylor , former US Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers and Quora laminitis Adam D’Angelo .
We have reached an arrangement in rule for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a young initial board of Bret Taylor ( Chair ) , Larry Summers , and Adam D’Angelo .
We are collaborating to estimate out the detail . Thank you so much for your patience through this .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
— OpenAI ( @OpenAI)November 22 , 2023
Altman also posted about the newfangled deal , giving some brainstorm into the roller coaster that we ’ve all been riding since his inflammation was revealed Friday . In his quarrel , his decision to bring together Microsoft on Sunday “ was the best path for me and the team . ” Since then , the new plank ’s composition and Microsoft ’s funding appear to have been enough to bring him back to the AI company he co - institute .
Altman and board in talks
OpenAI ’s display panel of directors is reportedly in talks with Sam Altman , outmoded - Y Combinator president and an OpenAI co - founder , to come back to OpenAI as CEO as shortly as this week . That ’s according to Bloomberg , which in abrief — citing sources snug to the topic — said that discourse are happening between Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo , one current penis of the OpenAI board , and Altman — and possibly other table members as well .
Board tensions boil over
The New York Timesreportsthat , before his ousting , Sam Altman made a move to labor out board penis Helen Toner because he consider a paper she had co - publish was overly critical of OpenAI . That , among other issues , led to OpenAI ’s current predicament . speak of , The Times indicates that negotiations to rent Altman back continue — but that one major sticking point stay is “ guardrails ” meant to improve Altman ’s communication with the circuit card .
A mail service shared by TechCrunch ( @techcrunch )
—
November 20
Altman joins Microsoft
Sam Altman , Greg Brockman and colleaguesannouncethat they ’ll fall in Microsoft to chair a new AI research team . Nadella will the threshold assailable to other OpenAI staffer , saying that they ’ll be given the resources they need should they choose to link up .
Sutskever’s mea culpa
Sutskever publish a post on X suggest that he regrets his determination to get rid of Altman and that he ’ll do everything in his mightiness to reestablish Altman as CEO .
I deep repent my involvement in the board ’s actions . I never intended to harm OpenAI . I love everything we ’ve built together and I will do everything I can to reunify the company .
— Ilya Sutskever ( @ilyasut)November 20 , 2023
Employees threaten to resign
Nearly 500 of OpenAI ’s roughly 770 employee — include , signally , Sutskever — publisha letter say that they might fall by the wayside unless the startup ’s board resigns and reappoints the ousted Altman . Later Monday , that number climbed to over 650 .
Altman and Brockman considering return
Asreportedby The Verge , Altman ’s move to Microsoft is n’t a done deal — and both Altman and Brockman are still undecided to returning to OpenAI . That is , if the remaining board members who ab initio fired him step aside .
OpenAI board considers merger
OpenAI ’s panel of theatre director approached Dario Amodei , the Centennial State - father and CEO of rival big - language theoretical account developer Anthropic , about a possible merger of the two companies , The Informationreports . The approach was part of an feat by OpenAI to carry Amodei to supercede Altman as CEO — but Amodei quickly turn down the CEO offering .
November 19
Altman to meet at OpenAI HQ
According to The Information , Altman is expected to foregather at OpenAI ’s San Francisco home office as executives at OpenAI push to have him reinstated as CEO . Brockman was invited to link — but it ’s unclear whether he ’ll take execs up on that invitation .
Board negotiations hit a snag
Bloombergreportsthat Lightcap and Murati , among others , are pushing the board to reinstate Altman . But unsurprisingly , the directors are resisting . As of noontide Sunday , the board had n’t submit out of concern over who could replace them , and were vetting candidates . One possible novel addition could be Salesforce co - CEO Bret Taylor .
Altman out, Shear in
Altman wo n’t be bring back as chief executive officer , concord to areportin The Information cite an intragroup memo sent by Sutskever . As the hunting for a new lasting CEO continues , OpenAI hasappointedEmmett Shear , the conscientious objector - founder of video cyclosis web site Twitch , as interim CEO — interchange Murati .
November 18
“Not … in response to malfeasance”
In an internal memoobtainedby Axios post Saturday morning , OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap said yesterday ’s announcement “ took [ the direction squad ] by surprise ” and that management had had “ multiple conversation with the board to attempt to better understand the reasons and process behind their decision . ” Discussions were ongoing as of Saturday break of the day , per the memo .
“ We can say definitively that the board ’s decision was not made in response to malfeasance or anything related to our financial , stage business , safe , or security / seclusion practice , ” Lightcap added . “ This was a breakdown in communication between Sam and the board … We still share your concerns about how the process has been handled , are working to correct the situation , and will ply updates as we ’re able . ”
OpenAI’s funding in jeopardy
The plannedsaleof OpenAI employee shares that would value the startup at about $ 86 billion could be in hazard . The Information , speaking to three reservoir formerly with the company , reportsthat they no longer expect the sale — led by Thrive Capital — to fall out , or , if it does , to total with a less evaluation because of the late turning of event .
Altman planning new venture
Altman has been tell investors that he ’s be after to launch a new speculation , accordingto The Information . Brockman is await to join the attempt — whatever sort it takes . ( Possiblyan AI chip startup . )
i love you all .
today was a weird experience in many way . but one unexpected one is that it has been sorta like reading your own pean while you ’re still active . the outpouring of love is amazing .
one takeout : go tell your friend how with child you think they are .
— Sam Altman ( @sama)November 18 , 2023
Investors pushing for Altman’s return
investor — angry at the turn of event — arereportedly maintain pressureon OpenAI ’s board to reinstate Altman , hold out so far as to recruit Microsoft . Nadella is said to be sympathetic .
Board agrees to reverse course — in principle
The Vergereportsthat the board consort in principle to vacate and to allow Altman and Brockman to fall . It waffled , however , overlook a deadline yesterday by which many OpenAI staffers were set to leave the company . Altman is said to be ambivalent about amount back and ask for “ meaning ” governance changes .
November 17
Brockman demoted
Brockman says he got a school text from Sutskever shortly after noon on Friday asking for a quick call . After send a Google Meet connexion , Brockman was told that he was being removed from the board as chairman “ but was vital to the companionship and would keep on his theatrical role ” as president , and that Altman had been fired .
Altman’s firing publicly announced
OpenAIpublisheda Emily Post on its blogannouncingthe executive shiver - up . The company ’s direction squad was aware soon after .
i loved my clip at openai . it was transformative for me personally , and hopefully the world a little bit . most of all i loved working with such talented masses .
will have more to say about what ’s next later .
🫡
— Sam Altman ( @sama)November 17 , 2023
All-hands meeting
OpenAI held an all - hands meeting Friday afternoon during which Sutskever defended Altman ’s ouster . He dismissed suggestions that crowd Altman out add up to a “ uncongenial coup , ” andclaimedthat it was necessary to protect OpenAI ’s mission of “ making AI beneficial to humanity . ”
Microsoft releases a statement
Satya Nadella , the chief operating officer of Microsoft , a majorinvestorin — andpartnerwith — OpenAI , put out astatementabout Altman ’s firing :
“ As you find at Microsoft Ignite this calendar week , we ’re continuing to rapidly innovate for this era of AI , with over 100 announcement across the full tech stack from AI organization , model and tools in Azure , to Copilot . Most significantly , we ’re committed to delivering all of this to our customer while make for the future . We have a long - term agreement with OpenAI with full entree to everything we want to deport on our innovation agenda and an exciting production roadmap ; and continue committed to our partnership , and to Mira and the squad . Together , we will preserve to deliver the meaningful benefit of this applied science to the world . ”
Brockman quits
Brockman announce his surrender from OpenAI , citing “ today ’s intelligence . ” After send a memoranda internally , he published the text on X.
After learning today ’s news show , this is the substance I sent to the OpenAI team : https://t.co / NMnG16yFmmpic.twitter.com/8x39P0ejOM
— Greg Brockman ( @gdb)November 18 , 2023
Senior OpenAI researchers resign
Three senior OpenAI researchers reconcile after Brockman , let in the director of enquiry Jakub Pachocki and drumhead of preparedness Aleksander Madry .
November 16
Ilya Sutskever schedules call with Altman
According to a post on X ( formerly Twitter ) from Brockman , Ilya Sutskever , the chief scientist at OpenAI and a carbon monoxide - laminitis , texted Altman on Thursday evening about scheduling a Friday high noon call .
Sam and I are take aback and saddened by what the board did today .
allow us first say thank you to all the incredible people who we have worked with at OpenAI , our customers , our investors , and all of those who have been reaching out .
We too are still trying to figure out exactly …
Murati told of Altman’s firing
Brockman alleges thatMira Murati , OpenAI ’s CTO and now interim CEO , was informed on Thursday Nox that Altman would be dismiss .
