Sam Altman fired as CEO of OpenAI after board loses confidence, replaced by CTO Mira Murati

Sam Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT creator OpenAI, was fired from the $29 billion startup he co-founded on Friday afternoon, in a surprise announcement that is expected to reverberate across the business world. CTO Mira Murati was named interim CEO. Murati, an Albanian-born Dartmouth-educated engineer, played a significant role in developing some of OpenAI’s most renowned products.

The company board of directors attributed Altman’s firing to a lack of consistent candor in his communications with the board, leading to a loss of confidence in his leadership abilities. Many are describing this as a “stunning shake-up.”

The board also pointed to a lack of transparency in Altman’s communications as the reason for his removal, adding that Altman “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board.”

Altman was known for advocating the responsible development of artificial intelligence, playing a key role in highlighting both the potential benefits and risks of AI. However, criticism had arisen regarding his management of certain OpenAI projects, including the release of the GPT-3 language model, which was found capable of generating harmful and offensive content.

The decision to remove Altman as CEO is expected to have a notable impact on OpenAI’s trajectory. Altman held a respected and charismatic presence in the AI community, and his departure may pose challenges for the company in attracting and retaining top talent. Additionally, questions about the company’s governance and decision-making regarding AI technology development and deployment could arise from the board’s decision.

The future of OpenAI under Murati’s leadership remains uncertain, but her appointment as interim CEO suggests a desire for a more measured and cautious approach. Murati, a respected technologist with a profound understanding of AI, is likely to focus on ensuring that OpenAI’s technology is developed and utilized in a responsible and ethical manner. Time will reveal the outcomes of this leadership transition.

Founded in 2015 by Elon Musk and Sam Altman, OpenAI is a non-profit research institution with a singular mission: to forge the path toward the creation of safe and advantageous artificial general intelligence (AGI). Throughout its journey, OpenAI has built a series of remarkable AI systems, among them the influential GPT-3 language model and the innovative DALL-E 2 image generation model. The company has received at least $13 billion in investment from Microsoft and is reportedly valued at $86 billion.