Sam Altman makes stunning RETURN to OpenAI as CEO just five days after ouster and being poached by Microsoft: Firm reveals initial new board with ex-Twitter chair Bret Taylor

OpenAI said Wednesday it has reached a shock agreement for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO, just five days after his dramatic ouster following a disagreement with the company’s board.

The artificial intelligence company on Monday appointed ex-Twitch boss Emmett Shear as interim CEO, while outgoing chief Altman stepped up to support Microsoft, sparking “intense discussions” to prevent a staff mutiny.

Instead, Altman is returning and will be joined by a new board consisting of former Twitter chairman Bret Taylor, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Quora co-founder Adam D’Angelo.

“I love OpenAI and everything I have done over the last few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together,” he said in a post on X early Wednesday morning.

Altman thanked Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella for helping him pull off the stunning turnaround.

‘When I decided to join Microsoft on Sunday evening, it was clear that this was the best path for me and the team. With the new board and with Satya’s support, I look forward to returning to openai and building on our strong partnership with (Microsoft).

In a statement of her own, Nardella credited the changes to the board with getting Altman back to OpenAI.

“We are encouraged by the changes in the OpenAI board,” he wrote. ‘We believe this is an essential first step towards a more stable, well-informed and effective government.’

“Sam, Greg and I have spoken and agreed that they, along with OAI’s leadership team, must play a key role in ensuring that OAI continues to thrive and build on its mission.”

“We look forward to building on our strong partnership and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners.”

By Monday evening, 747 of the company’s 770 employees had threatened to quit and join Microsoft if the 38-year-old Altman was not reinstated.

In an internal memo written by Vice President of Global Affairs Anna Makanju and seen by Bloomberg, employees were told Monday that management had been in contact with Altman, new CEP Emmett Shear and the board “but they are not willing to give us a definitive answer.” give ‘This evening’.

“We continue to discuss mutually acceptable options and will speak again tomorrow morning when everyone has had more sleep,” Makanju wrote.

“These intense discussions can drag on, and I know it can seem impossible to be patient.”

By Monday evening, 747 of the company’s 770 employees had threatened to quit and join Microsoft if Altman was not reinstated

She added: “Know that we have a plan that we are working towards.”

Altman has now been recruited by Microsoft, which has also committed to hiring other OpenAI personnel who choose to join them at its new AI research subsidiary.

OpenAI’s board also faces potentially threatened legal action from venture capitalists backing the startup to force them to rehire Altman.

An individual at a venture capital fund with a stake in OpenAI told the Financial Times that “legal action could be taken tomorrow.”

OpenAI’s other investors, led by Thrive Capital, are also actively seeking Altman’s return, people with knowledge of the effort told Bloomberg News on Monday.

Vice President of Global Affairs Anna Makanju sought to reassure staff in an internal memo as the startup descends into chaos

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, will receive the Professor Hawking Fellowship on behalf of OpenAI in Cambridge, England on November 1

Emmet Shear is now the new CEO of OpenAI after his predecessor Sam Altman was fired

Until Friday’s dramatic ouster, the board consisted of Altman, President Greg Brockman, chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, Adam D’Angelo, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner.

Sutskever later said he “deeply regretted” his participation in ousting Altman and added his name to the letter from employees who threatened to quit.

In their letter, the employees said the directors had “undermined our mission and our company” by firing Altman and stripping his co-founder Greg Brockman, who later resigned, of his position on the board.

OpenAI, founded by Altman and ten others in 2015, rolled out ChatGPT a year ago — and its ability to mimic human writing has since proven polarizing.

Aside from raising public concerns, this uncertainty was also apparently felt within OpenAI’s six-member board, according to The New York Times report – particularly by one of Altman’s co-founders, Ilya Sutskever.

In a series of interviews, people familiar with the matter described how the AI ​​researcher had concerns about OpenAI’s nascent technology before the firing, and shared a belief that his boss was not paying enough attention to the risks.

These concerns came as many warned that AI could one day result in a dystopian machine-controlled landscape, as was the case in James Cameron’s famous Terminator series.