Only a few months after a heated boardroom dispute that resulted in his dismissal and subsequent rehire by the ChatGPT firm, Sam Altman will rejoin the OpenAI board, the company said on Friday, March 8.
According to the corporation, an internal inquiry conducted in the days after Altman’s stormy discharge last year revealed that he had also been wrongfully sacked.
Together with Altman, three other new members will be joining the board: CEO of Instacart, Fidji Simo, former president of Sony Entertainment, Nicole Seligman and former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Sue Desmond-Hellmann.
They will accompany former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and ex-co-CEO of Salesforce Bret Taylor, who joined just after the November 2023 tumult.
At the time, Microsoft also obtained an observer position on the board of OpenAI, a move that earlier this week sparked criticism and a lawsuit from Elon Musk, who assisted in founding OpenAI in 2015 before quitting the organization.
“The OpenAI Board of Directors is pleased to welcome Sue, Nicole and Fidji,” stated the board’s chair, Bret Taylor.
“Their experience and leadership will ensure that we pursue OpenAI’s mission of ensuring artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity,” he stated.
With his plan to launch ChatGPT in November 2022, Altman has emerged as the face of the most recent artificial intelligence boom.
However, the board of the firm abruptly dismissed Altman without providing a cause, which shocked the 700-strong staff who remained loyal to their star CEO and threatened a mass resignation.
After some days of turmoil, Altman was restored by the board of OpenAI, which was forced to alter its decision by Microsoft, the software giant that had made significant investments in the AI business and promised to recruit those departing.
The board members responsible for Altman’s brief dismissal resigned.
