An inner memo despatched to OpenAI employees on Saturday after former CEO Sam Altman’s abrupt firing reiterates that “a breakdown in communication” led to the choice, not “malfeasance or anything related to our financial, business, safety, or security/privacy practices,” in keeping with reporting from Axios and The New York Instances. The memo obtained by each publications was despatched to workers by OpenAI’s Chief Working Officer Brad Lightcap.
Hypothesis has been nonstop since Altman was ousted unexpectedly as CEO on Friday and dropped from the corporate’s board of administrators, with little concrete info from OpenAI itself to go on. In its announcement of the choice, the board mentioned solely that he was not “consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.” The board named Mira Murati, OpenAI’s Chief Know-how Officer, as interim CEO.
In response, OpenAI’s now-former president, Greg Brockman, introduced he was stepping down too, tweeting, “Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today.” Three senior researchers later resigned as properly, in keeping with The Data. Now, in one other report, sources instructed The Data that Altman already has a “new venture” within the works, and he plans to deliver Brockman and presumably others on with him. It’s as but unclear if this enterprise is separate from Altman’s different recognized upcoming initiatives, together with a purported collaboration with former Apple designer Jony Ive.
Quite a few stories within the aftermath have tried to supply a proof for Altman’s firing, with some claiming there have been considerations over the speedy improvement of the corporate’s AI merchandise and, in keeping with journalist Kara Swisher, its “profit driven direction.” In Saturday’s memo, per Axios, Lightcap wrote that the announcement “took us all by surprise,” and “we have had multiple conversations with the board to try to better understand the reasons and process behind their decision.”
if i begin going off, the openai board ought to go after me for the total worth of my shares
— Sam Altman (@sama) November 18, 2023
The sudden shakeup might now have ramifications for the approaching sale of OpenAI’s worker shares, valued at roughly $86 billion, The Data reported. In a cryptic tweet on Saturday, Altman quipped, “if i start going off, the openai board should go after me for the full value of my shares (sic).”