Sam Altman Steps Down as OpenAI CEO Amid Board Concerns
Sam Altman, whose name became synonymous with Artificial Intelligence through his company OpenAI”s two products, ChatGPT and DALL-E, has been forced to leave OpenAI as reported by Bloomberg. The company”s board of directors voted for a no-confidence motion against Altman, who was the founding CEO of OpenAI.
Mira Mrati, an Albanian-born Dartmouth-educated engineer and the former Chief Technology Officer of the company, has replaced Sam Altman on an interim basis. Mrati is known to have played a crucial role in the development of some of OpenAI”s key products.
In a statement, the company said, “Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”
Greg Brockman, a co-founder of OpenAI who had been the chairman of the board, also resigned from the company’s president post. In a tweet on X (formerly Twitter), Brockman wrote, “Based on today’s news, I quit.”
Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today.
Let 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…
— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023
“I loved my time at OpenAI,” Altman wrote in a tweet on Friday. “It was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. Most of all, I loved working with such talented people.” Altman added, “Will have more to say about what’s next later.”
Sam Altman had become a celebrity, garnering the support of mass audiences on par with leaders such as US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak following the launch of ChatGPT and DALL-E. However, Altman is known to have maintained conservative stance about Artificial Intelligence technologies, warning individuals about its potential threats.
ChatGPT is estimated to have 100 million users each week, and more than 90% of Fortune 500 businesses are leveraging OpenAI’s platform by building tools on it. The company also sells its software to businesses. According to a Bloomberg report in August, the company is on its way to reaching a revenue of $1 billion soon.
However, the company has been facing tough competition from industry tech giants, including Alphabet Inc.’s Google and other well-funded startups.
