Sam Altman-OpenAI Saga: Top 10 updates you should know

Here are top 10 updates you should know about the OpenAI controversy:

1) In good news for all OpenAI fans, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the OpenAI board, which fired Sam Altman on Friday, is now in talks to bring the top executive back. According to the report, discussions are currently taking place between Sam Altman, interim CEO Emmett Shear and at least one board member, Adam D’Angelo.

2) In the scenario that Sam Altman returns, it would be as CEO of OpenAI and he would also be part of the transitional board, and former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor could chair the new board.

3) The tide had already turned in Altman’s favour when one of the board members, fellow co-founder and board member Ilya Sutskever, decided to mend fences with the former CEO on Monday after playing a key role in his ouster. In a post on X, Ilya wrote, “I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we’ve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company.”

4) Satya Nadella’s Microsoft, which has pledged to invest around $13 billion in OpenAI and hold around 49% of the artificial intelligence startup, had announced on Monday that it is hiring Sam Altman and former OpenAI president Greg Brockman to lead a new advanced AI research team. However, the possibility of Sam Altman joining Microsoft now seems remote, and Nadella more or less accepted this in a recent interview.

Speaking about the possibility of Sam Altman rejoining OpenAI in a recent interaction with Bloomberg TV, Nadella said: “Irrespective of where Sam is, he’s working for Microsoft and that is the case on Friday and that’s the case today and I absolutely believe that will be the case tomorrow”

5) Around 700 of the 770 OpenAI employees had threatened to leave the company on Tuesday and join the new Microsoft-led subsidiary run by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman unless the current board resigns.

6) Microsoft has officially offered to take in the disgruntled OpenAI employees with Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott confirming that the Redmond-based company is ready to match their compensation. In a post on X, Kevin Scott wrote, “To my partners at OpenAI: We have seen your petition and appreciate your desire potentially to join Sam Altman at Microsoft’s new AI Research Lab. Know that if needed, you have a role at Microsoft that matches your compensation and advances our collective mission.”

7) Microsoft, however, is now discussing some governance changes it will request from the OpenAI board including increasing the size of the board and increasing the experience level required for board members, reported Bloomberg.

 8) The OpenAI board also approached Dario Amodei, the chief executive officer of rival Anthropic, offering him to replace its ousted CEO Sam Altman. Apart from offering him the top role, the board of directors also sought to discuss a potential merger between the two artificial intelligence (AI)-focussed startups, Reuters reported, citing sources who are privy to the development.

9) OpenAI management is now telling the employees its time to ‘get back to shipping’ products. OpenAI’s vice president of product in a memo sent to employees and quoted by Bloomberg said that the best way to channel their energy was in developing products.

10) According to a Bloomberg report, the OpenAI Board has not yet informed new interim CEO Emmett Shear not being informed about the reason for firing Sam Altman. The report notes that Shear does not plan to stick around if the board does not communicate the reason for Altman’s firing in writing.

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Updated: 22 Nov 2023, 08:47 AM IST