Altman and OpenAI's vice president of global affairs, Anna Makanju, were speaking to Bloomberg's Brad Stone when the topic of his firing came up. Makanju revealed that the staff was caught off guard by Altman's sudden departure, which occurred the day before the company was supposed to take a week off. The incident led to many employees sleeping on the office floor for a week.
Key takeaways:
- Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, was briefly fired from the company in November for not being 'consistently candid in his communications with the board.'
- Altman's firing resulted in a chaotic leadership transition, with the company appointing two interim CEOs before reinstating him just days later.
- Altman has described the experience as 'unbelievably painful,' likening it to the death of his father.
- Altman and his company's vice president of global affairs, Anna Makanju, discussed the incident during an interview with Bloomberg's Brad Stone in Davos.