‘OpenAI Sam Altman’s return is imminent’. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and co-founder and former president Greg Brockman, who was fired on November 19, reportedly visited the company’s San Francisco headquarters on Sunday after interim CEO Mira Murati told employees that Altman had been invited. Sam Altman was reportedly considering starting a new artificial intelligence (AI) venture following his abrupt termination notice, and there have been numerous reports that he was discussing a possible return to OpenAI.
While OpenAI has so far declined to comment on the details, Altman posted a photo of himself wearing an OpenAI guest badge on messaging platform X on Sunday, along with the following caption “This is the first and last time I’m wearing this badge.” The first and last time he’ll be wearing a guest badge into the company. Perhaps, as many reports are predicting, this will turn out to be Sam Altman’s return to the company, at least for now.
The news of Altman’s firing angered current and former employees, while others worried about how the sudden management upheaval would affect the company’s upcoming $86 billion stock sale. Reports suggest that Brockman, OpenAI’s former president and co-founder, also arrived at the office on Sunday, lending further weight to the theory that the two are back on board. For the record, Brockman stepped down as chairman of the board as part of a management shakeup, and announced his departure from the company on Friday.
The Information article also reports that if Altman returns to OpenAI, backer Microsoft is considering taking a role on the board, but the contract and governance arrangements to date allow Microsoft to sit on OpenAI’s board or participate as a non-voting board observer, the report adds.
Will it be all over in three days? If Sam Altman does return, what will happen to the internal forces that led this coup? It seems like the corporate political landscape is really dynamic, whether in South Korea or the US.