The OpenAI board is reportedly in talks with ousted CEO Sam Altman to return to the company and resume his role as the company’s CEO, The Verge reports.
Altman was abruptly fired by the OpenAI board on Friday. Reportedly, on Saturday the board agreed in principle to resign and allow Altman, as well as Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president and former board chairman, to return.
Brockman resigned a few hours after Altman was fired. The two are long-time friends and have reportedly been talking to friends and investors about potentially launching a new company, even before Altman was removed.
Along with Brockman, several senior researchers at the company also resigned on Friday and more departures of key players at the company are reportedly in the works.
Altman is reportedly “ambivalent” about returning to the company and would only do so with significant governance changes.
Unlike many company boards whose goals are to maximize value for its shareholders, OpenAI’s board is to ensure that the company is building “broadly beneficial” artificial general intelligence, AGI. None of the company’s board members hold equity in the company.
Ilya Sutskever who co-founded the company and leads the company’s research team reportedly played a key role in Altman’s removal from the company Friday, something The Verge indicates might suggest a power struggle between the research and product sides of the company.
In a memo to OpenAI staff, COO Brad Lightcap said that Altman was removed due to a “breakdown in communication between Sam and the board”, and not “malfeasance or anything related to our financial, business, safety, or security/privacy practices”.
