In a shocking turn of events, Sam Altman, the outspoken CEO and co-founder of OpenAI (the makers of ChatGPT) has been removed from his position. This comes after a vote made by the Board of Directors due to “lack of confidence” in the former CEO.
Sam Altman has been the high-profile figurehead of the “AI research and deployment company” OpenAI and its chief product, ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-training Transformer). But while ChatGPT has become a prevalent application in 2023, it has also been the subject of controversies and issues. These issues range from the misuse of datasets intended only for research, AI hallucinations and unreliability, and sensitive data being exposed for profit (including child exploitation).
However, the time of Sam Altman as OpenAI’s CEO is apparently over after a meeting of the Board of Directors leading to a vote of “no confidence”. The decision was posted on the official OpenAI website.
i loved my time at openai. it was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. most of all i loved working with such talented people.
will have more to say about what’s next later.
🫡
— Sam Altman (@sama) November 17, 2023
The news comes as a shock to the tech industry and enthusiasts, particularly those who have been using OpenAI’s flagship Large Language Model (LLM) ChatGPT. With the company introducing custom GPT models and a fifth iteration of ChatGPT (aka ChatGPT-5) on the way, the timing of Sam Altman’s ouster as the company’s CEO is more than a little surprising.
Reddit is abuzz with the sudden removal of Altman. After all, he has been the face of the company for the past year in promoting their LLM ChatGPT. Earlier this year, Altman was even in the forefront of testifying before the U.S. Congress regarding the concerns over artificial intelligence and how it is being abused without regulations in place.
Some rumors have been posted on the platform by Reddit users, pointing to senior engineers in the company allegedly raising concerns about rushing out the release of the tech to market without sufficient safety measures. Another alleged reason is Sam Altman’s business decisions involving the controversial Worldcoin (WLD) cryptocurrency being associated with OpenAI.
Another speculated factor that led to Altman’s removal as CEO of ChatGPT’s parent company OpenAI is a more personal level. Annie Altman, Sam Altman’s sister, and her account of past history of physical and sexual abuse has gained renewed interest. Although Annie has been sharing these experiences on social media as far back as 2021, the posts resurfaced and are now gaining increased public attention.
I experienced sexual, physical, emotional, verbal, financial, and technological abuse from my biological siblings, mostly Sam Altman and some from Jack Altman.
(2/3)
— Annie Altman (@phuckfilosophy) November 14, 2021
One other possible factor that accelerated the ouster of Sam Altman is the decision of the White House and the G7 Nations to push for regulating AI. With the increasing number of lawsuits being hurled at OpenAI for copyright infringement under Altman’s watch, the vote of no confidence from the directors may have been a step towards damage control.
Yet another potential factor that may have contributed to this decision of OpenAI’s Board of Directors is the result of the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes. In both cases, the Anti-AI sentiment became public and both strikes resulted in terms that reduced the value of artificial intelligence in the entertainment industry.
In the interim, OpenAI CTO Mira Murati will be holding the position until a new CEO is officially announced.
But the exits from OpenAI/ChatGPT do not end with Altman. On the same day, President and another co-founder of OpenAI Greg Brockman was removed as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today.
Let us first say thank you to all the incredible people who we have worked with at OpenAI, our customers, our investors, and all of those who have been reaching out.
We too are still trying to figure out exactly…
— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023
According to Brockman, he was informed of his removal as president just after Sam Altman’s removal as CEO of OpenAI. However, while Brockman will no longer be Chairman, he will apparently retain a seat on the Board of Directors. Amusingly, some people reacted to the post on X (formerly Twitter) that Altman and Brockman being fired through a Google Meet session is ironic (as OpenAI is partnered with Microsoft, Google’s chief rival).
What do you think of these bombshell ousting of the co-founders of OpenAI? How will it affect the public image of the company? Will the public perception change toward its most prominent app ChatGPT which is already mired with issues and lawsuits of infringement and exploiting data?
