The OpenAI Mess Is About One Big Thing
Corporate governance is playing a starring role in the chaos unfolding inside the world’s most famous AI start-up.
By Derek Thompson, The Atlantic
Updated at 11 a.m. ET on November 22, 2023
OpenAI, the famed artificial intelligence startup, has been wracked with chaos for the last six days. On Friday, the board of directors fired chief executive Sam Altman for “not being consistently candid.” On Sunday, under pressure from investor Microsoft, the firm brought Altman back to the office to discuss his rehiring, only to determine that, no, he was still very much fired. Early Monday morning, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Altman would join the tech giant in a new undefined role, only to back off that announcement in the following hours. Later on Monday, roughly 700 of the nearly 800 employees at OpenAI signed a letter demanding the return of Altman. Finally, on Tuesday, OpenAI announced that Altman would return to the company as chief executive. The key board members who fired him would either step down or leave the company entirely.
