An OpenAI “coup” spotlights major differences in the vision for AI’s future
Generating some drama… In a move that continues to jolt the biz world, ChatGPT maker OpenAI fired CEO Sam Altman, who’d led the company for four years. After his ouster, some senior employees resigned. As of yesterday, OpenAI had named its third boss in three days (Twitch cofounder Emmett Shear), while OpenAI’s biggest investor, Microsoft, quickly scooped up Altman to lead a new AI unit. Analysts are comparing the news to when Apple gave Steve Jobs the boot in 1985.
Prompting pushback: In response to Altman’s sacking, 650+ of the company’s ~770 employees signed a letter saying they might quit and join their former boss’s Microsoft team if the board doesn’t step down. Employees reportedly refused to attend an all-hands meeting with new chief exec Shear.
At odds: OpenAI hasn’t been clear about why Altman was shown the door, other than saying he wasn’t “consistently candid” with the board. The Atlantic reported that a rift had formed between Altman (who was pushing to commercialize AI products) and the side of the company focused on safety and regulation.
Up in the AIr: the status of the $86B valuation OpenAI was set to receive (who knows whether it’ll still be valued the same with Altman gone).
And the winner is… Microsoft, clearly. Not only does it own 49% of OpenAI, but it also now has its star exec, plus the new AI division he’s building. And it didn’t have to deal with an acquisition fight (see: Activision merger) to get it all. Still, if the OpenAI board steps down, it’s possible Altman could rejoin.
The rift’s causing shockwaves… On the one hand, you have “techno-optimists” like Altman and Marc Andreessen, who say AI should roam free. On the other, you have experts and execs warning of doom if we don’t tread with caution. Meanwhile, regulators are lagging behind the tech’s rapid pace. ChatGPT isn’t even a year old.