Open AI sacks CEO Sam Altman, co-founder Greg Brockman quits hours later

The company said OpenAI's Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati will serve as the interim CEO.

"The board of directors of OpenAI, Inc., the 501(c)(3) that acts as the overall governing body for all OpenAI activities, today announced that Sam Altman will depart as CEO and leave the board of directors. Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, will serve as interim CEO, effective immediately," the tech firm said in a statement.

Speaking further on the decision to remove Sam, the firm said: "Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI."

Sam posted on X, "I love you all. Today was a weird experience in many ways. but one unexpected one is that it has been sorta like reading your own eulogy while you’re still alive. the outpouring of love is awesome. One takeaway: go tell your friends how great you think they are."

OpenAI co-founder and President Greg Brockman on Saturday announced his decision to quit the ChatGPT-creating firm hours after Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman was removed from the company.

"I am super proud of what we have all built together since starting in my apartment 8 years ago," he posted on X.

"We have been through tough and great times together, accomplishing so much despite all the reasons it should have been impossible. But based on today's news, I quit," he said.

OpenAI was founded as a non-profit in 2015. The company restructured itself in 2019.

'IT major remains committed to partnership with Open AI, says Microsoft chief 

IT major Microsoft  Corp, which is one of the biggest backers of Open AI, on Saturday (November 18, 2023) confirmed it will remain committed to the partnership with the firm that created ChatGPT even after it underwent several changes including the removal of its CEO Sam Altman.

"As you saw at Microsoft Ignite this week, we're continuing to rapidly innovate for this era of AI, with over 100 announcements across the full tech stack – from AI systems, models, and tools in Azure, to Copilot," Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella wrote on X.

"Most importantly, we're committed to delivering all of this to our customers while building for the future. We have a long-term agreement with OpenAI with full access to everything we need to deliver on our innovation agenda and an exciting product roadmap; and remain committed to our partnership, and to Mira and the team," he said.

"Together, we will continue to deliver the meaningful benefits of this technology to the world," he said.