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OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman and OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Muratti speak during The Wall Street Journal’s WSJ Tech Live conference on October 17, 2023 in Laguna Beach, California.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | getty images
OpenAI’s board of directors said Friday that Sam Altman will step down as CEO and will be replaced by technology chief Mira Murati.
The company said it conducted “a thoughtful review process” and “concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, which hindered his ability to carry out his responsibilities.”
“The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue to lead OpenAI,” the statement said.
OpenAI’s board includes chief scientist Ilya Sutskever and independent directors such as Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner of the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology. OpenAI says its 501(c)(3) board is “the overall governing body for all OpenAI activities.”
The board also said that Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s chairman, “will step down as Chairman of the Board and will continue in his role at the company and report to the CEO.”
OpenAI, which has raised billions of dollars Microsoft and ranked first on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list this year, breaking into the mainstream late last year after releasing its AI chatbot ChatGPT to the public. The service went viral by allowing users to transform simple text into creative conversations and has inspired big tech companies like Alphabet and Meta to increase their investments in generative AI.
Microsoft shares slipped after the announcement and closed the day down 1.7% at $369.84.
OpenAI was launched in 2015 as a non-profit model with the support of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who reportedly contributed $1 billion to the project. Before taking over as CEO, Altman was president of startup accelerator Y Combinator and rose to prominence in Silicon Valley as an early-stage investor. Early in his career, he started the social networking company Loopt.
As ChatGPT as well as OpenAI grew in popularity this year, so did Altman’s profile. He became an ambassador of sorts representing the emerging AI industry around the world.
In September, the 38-year-old Altman was awarded a so-called “Golden Visa” by Indonesia, providing him with various travel accommodations and allowances for 10 years, intended to help the country attract more foreign investors. .
Altman spent the summer visiting various Asia-Pacific countries, including Singapore, India, China, South Korea, and Japan, meeting with government leaders and officials and giving public speeches on the rise of AI and the need for regulations.
Altman did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
— CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report
Watch: OpenAI says Altman is stepping down as CEO
