Altman was reinstated as CEO after over 700 of OpenAI’s 770 employees threatened to resign and join Microsoft, which had guaranteed jobs for all of them. The employees also demanded a new board and their demands were supported by Mira Murati and Ilya Sutskever, who played a significant role in Altman’s dismissal. Despite his role in the controversy, Altman expressed interest in continuing to work with Sutskever in the future.
Key takeaways:
- There is a secret WhatsApp group of around 100 top CEOs, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Dropbox chief Drew Houston, where they discussed Sam Altman's sudden exit from OpenAI.
- Altman's departure was abrupt and the reason behind it is still unclear. The OpenAI board stated that they had lost trust in Altman's ability to lead due to his inconsistent communications.
- OpenAI employees were also unaware of the reason behind Altman's firing and felt uneasy, with many looking for other job opportunities. Over 700 of OpenAI’s 770 employees demanded Altman's reinstatement, threatening to resign and join Microsoft otherwise.
- Altman was reinstated as OpenAI CEO days after his exit. Ilya Sutskever, who played a major role in Altman’s ousting, expressed regret over his actions and is no longer part of the OpenAI board.