Months after Sam Altman was fired and quickly reinstated as CEO, a former OpenAI member reveals the backstory behind one of tech’s biggest scandals.
During an episode of The Ted AI Show podcast, former OpenAI board member Helen Toner explained in detail the backstory of Sam Altman’s firing as CEO. Altman founded OpenAI in 2015 and oversaw its biggest achievements that turned the company into the world’s most promising startup.
Last November, Altman was suddenly fired and reinstated as chief executive in a matter of days. After he came back, part of OpenAI’s board left the company, including co-founder Ilya Suskever and key researcher Jan Leike.
The details behind this power shuffle remained unclear until now. The only explanation provided by OpenAI was a general lack of trust in Altman’s lead.
“It was very clear to all of us that as soon as Sam had any inkling that we might do something that went against him, he would pull out all the stops, do everything in his power to undermine the board, to prevent us from even getting to the point of being able to fire him,” Toner said on the podcast.
According to Toner, Altman often lied and deceived the board. ChatGPT, the software that launched OpenAI to global fame, was launched unilaterally by Altman without informing the board. “We learned about ChatGPT on Twitter,” Toner said.
Additionally, Altman always led the board to believe he had no financial stake in the company. In reality, Altman held the OpenAI start-up fund, which the board discovered years after its foundation.
A difficult choice
Once Altman definitely broke the board’s trust, they decided to remove him from the position of CEO. However, OpenAI could not exist without Altman. Toner explained the employees were left with two choices: reinstating Altman as CEO or destroying the company.
Microsoft’s stake in the start-up probably also weighed in the decision to keep Altman. The tech giant invested $10 billion into OpenAI after the release of ChatGPT. Microsoft probably considered Altman the brain behind the whole operation, and couldn’t afford losing control over him.
Despite his misdemeanors against the board, Altman is generally considered one of the most promising tech pioneers of our time.
In response to Toner’s statements, current OpenAI chair Bret Taylor responded in the same podcast. “We are disappointed that Ms. Toner continues to revisit these issues. An independent committee of the board worked with the law firm Wilmer Hale, to conduct an extensive review of the events of November. The review concluded that the prior board’s decision was not based on concerns regarding product safety or security, the pace of development, OpenAI’s finances, or its statements to investors, customers, or business partners,” Taylor said.
Taylor added that 95% of the company’s employees asked for Altman’s reinstatement, believing he was an integral part of OpenAI’s mission.
