Sam Altman will not return as the CEO of OpenAI and ex-Twitch boss Emmett Shear will become the new interim CEO, The Information reported on Sunday (paywall), citing board director Ilya Sutskever’s statement to the company’s staff.
Shear co-founded Twitch and had stepped down from the Amazon.com-owned live video-streaming platform earlier this year.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Altman will not return to the company as CEO despite efforts from the company’s executives to bring him back, the report said, citing Sutskever. The report did not give any other details.
Altman and former OpenAI president Greg Brockman joined executives at the company’s San Francisco headquarters on Sunday after interim CEO Mira Murati told staff she invited Altman, The Information earlier reported on Sunday.
Altman is discussing a possible return to the company behind the ChatGPT bot and improving the company’s governance structure, even as he considers launching a new artificial intelligence venture, Reuters reported on Sunday.
The board of the company on Friday fired Altman, who to many was the human face of generative AI, sending shockwaves across the tech industry.
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Altman posted on Sunday on messaging platform X an image of himself wearing an OpenAI guest badge with the caption: “First and last time I ever wear one of these.”
Altman’s sacking angered current and former employees and worried them over how an upcoming US$86-billion share sale could be affected by the sudden management upheaval.
OpenAI’s former president and co-founder, Brockman also arrived at the office on Sunday, The Information reported. Brockman had stepped down from the board as chairman as part of the management shuffle, and announced on Friday he quit the company.
Read: Sam Altman’s axing sends shockwaves through tech
If Altman returns to OpenAI, Microsoft, its biggest backer, is considering taking a role on the board, the Information reported on Sunday, citing two people familiar with the talks.
Microsoft could either take a seat on OpenAI’s board of directors, or as a board observer without voting power, the report added. — Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru and Stephanie Kelly, (c) 2023 Reuters
