Sam Altman Rehired As CEO at OpenAI, interim CEO Emmett Shear leaves

OpenAI recently announced that it has decided to rehire Sam Altman as CEO and add new members to its board. This decision comes in response to the majority of its employees threatening to resign after Altman’s unexpected removal. The temporary CEO, Emmett Shear, has been removed. Shear posted on X (formerly Twitter), “I am deeply pleased by this result, after -72 very intense hours of work.” “Coming into OpenAl, I wasn’t sure what the right path would be… I’m glad to have been a part of the solution”.

“We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo,” OpenAI said in a post on X.

The company mentioned that it is in the process of working out the specifics of the agreement. Sam Altman confirmed the news, expressing his anticipation for his return to OpenAI.

“I love OpenAi, and everything I’ve done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together. I’m looking forward to returning to OpenAi, and building on our strong partnership with msft (Microsoft),” Sam Altman on X.

Shortly after Sam Altman declared his choice to resume the role of OpenAI CEO, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who had recently onboarded Altman into the company, stated that they have deliberated on the issue and concurred that this marks “a first essential step” to build a “more stable, well-informed, and effective governance” at OpenAI.

Altman was let go by OpenAI’s board last Friday due to differences in the pace of developing and profiting from artificial intelligence. Despite being in talks to come back, negotiations hit a roadblock on Sunday, partly because of pressure from Altman and others for current board members to step down. Instead, the board appointed a new leader, former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear, and Microsoft, OpenAI’s major supporter, announced that Altman would lead a new in-house AI team.