OpenAI Turmoil, Ouster Stemmed From Small Board Size And AGI Discussions: Sam Altman Hints At Davos
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman candidly discussed his organisation's erstwhile board's decision to fire him at the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Friday. During a panel discussion at the event, the renowned AI leader suggested that the small board size at OpenAI and ongoing conversations about AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) and powerful AI played a pivotal role in what is now considered one of the most significant boardroom dramas in recent decades.
Addressing the internal dynamics, Altman acknowledged the ramifications of a shrinking board at OpenAI and admitting, "We had known that our board had gotten too small, and we knew that we didn't have the level of experience we needed."
He addressed a broader perspective on the challenges associated with the development of AGI and powerful AI, hinting that the conversations around this perhaps caused a disconnection between Altman and the board, which led to him getting fired in November 2023.
At the time, the OpenAI board of directors comprised Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever and independent directors Adam D’Angelo, CEO of Quora, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner from the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology. Following Altman's departure and subsequent return, a reconfigured board emerged featuring members from the OpenAI Nonprofit, with Independent Directors Bret Taylor as Chair, Larry Summers, and retaining Adam D’Angelo.
"As the world gets closer to very powerful AI, the stakes, the stress, the level of tension, that's all going to go up," the OpenAI CEO said during the WEF panel, as he vaguely spoke about his ouster.
Altman also reflected on the challenges during the events after his unceremonious ouster as well. "At some point, you just have to laugh. It gets so ridiculous," he said.
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) refers to a theoretical type of artificial intelligence where a machine possesses the capability to learn and reason akin to a human.
What Happened?
In a surprising turn of events on 17 November 2023, Sam Altman, former president of Y Combinator, faced termination as the CEO of OpenAI, the renowned AI startup responsible for creations such as ChatGPT, GPT-4 and DALL-E 3. The decision was made by OpenAI's board of directors. Following Altman's removal, the company experienced further upheaval as its co-founder and president, Greg Brockman, tendered his resignation, along with three senior researchers from the OpenAI team.
To manage the interim period, OpenAI appointed its Chief Technology Officer as the acting CEO. Subsequently, on 20 November, the company disclosed the appointment of Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, as its new chief executive. Meanwhile, Altman, Brockman, and their colleagues unveiled plans to join Microsoft and lead a new AI research team. Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, expressed openness to other OpenAI staff members, ensuring that necessary resources would be provided if they opted to join.
Nearly 650 of OpenAI's approximately 770 employees, including Ilya Sutskever, released a letter stating their potential resignation unless the startup's board stepped down and reinstated Altman.
Late on 21 November, it was officially announced that Sam Altman would make a return as the CEO of OpenAI.
