Just one month past the major upheaval in OpenAI – creator of ChatGPT – which left the world shocked as its founder Sam Altman stood ousted only to rise like a phoenix, the man in the middle of all chaos found himself as the recipient of the title “CEO of the Year” in 2023 by Time magazine. With this Altman appeared to break all records of hitting highs and lows at the same time.
The year 2022 emerged as a playing ground for Microsoft-backed OpenAI which introduced to the world the technology artificial that not only created an existenial crisis for other technologies but also threatened the human society. At a time when the world seemed to be immersed in the debate over the potential and threats of AI and the need to introduce a policy for regulating technology, Sam Altman suddenly was thrown out of his empire – leaving the world of technology in jeopardy.
Dethroning of Altman
OpenAI’s CEO and co-founder Sam Altman was fired by the board on November 17 over a Google Meet call and soon after President Greg Brockman was removed from the board, which finally led to his stepping down.
In an internal memo, COO Brad Lightcap said that the firing of Altman was over a “breakdown in communication between Sam and the board,” and not “malfeasance”.
The tension inside the firm increased on November 18 as a few employees started contemplating quitting if the board did not restore Altman as the CEO by the end of the weekend.
On the other hand, the poster boy of OpenAI now seemed to find a way out of the mess in which he suggested launching a new AI startup. However, in a turn of events, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on November 20 that Altman, Brockman, along their colleagues, have been hired to lead a new advanced AI research team.
The whirlwind of tension took the shape of a coup on November 20 when all OpenAI staff threatened to resign and join Altman’s team at Microsoft if the board failed to resign.
In the most unexpected conclusive event, Altman came back to OpenAI on November 21 as CEO with a new initial board which included Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo. Brockman also made his way back to the startup. In his first firm step after returning to power, Altman sacked almost the entire pre-existing board which had conspired against him.
Why Altman was fired by the board?
In the official announcement, Open AI’s board members had said that Altman was fired because “he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board” and was thus “hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities”. Miscommunication was held as the biggest reason behind Altman’s sudden dethroning, but some reports also suggested that he was becoming fearful for many.
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But some reports suggested, that OpenAI was working on an advanced system which was so powerful that it led to safety concerns among the company’s staff members before Altman was sacked.
Some OpenAI researchers were alarmed by the artificial intelligence model to such an extent that they wrote to the board of directors warning that it may threaten humanity, reported Reuters.
The report added that the speed with which the system was being developed alarmed few safety researchers. These allegations and the turmoil that hit OpenAI gave the world a reminder of how the future of AI does not rest in the hands of a few but are a collective responsibility and the path in this world needs to be trodden carefully.
(With inputs from agencies)
