Amid the chaotic consequences of The firing of Sam AltmanOne thing is clear: OpenAI employees, including senior managers, are on Altman’s side.
Supportive public posts on social media, reports of employees abandoning ship (and now an open letter signed by hundreds of employees threatening to quit) make it abundantly clear that OpenAI workers are angry. This comes after negotiations to reinstate Altman as CEO and Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear failed. was appointed new CEO.
Altman’s unexpected firing Friday afternoon sparked a frenzy in the tech world. Speculation and theories about why he was abruptly fired ran rampant as people tried to piece together what happened. As more details emerged, including Altman publications and brockman By sharing his side of the story, a narrative took shape that Altman was unfairly fired. Add the failed attempt to bring Altman back to the existing sentiment that the board unfairly fired Altman and you have employees in open rebellion.
The tweet may have been deleted.
According cabling and technology journalist Kara Swisher, around 500 (out of 700) employees said they would resign if the board of directors did not resign. The letter did not mince words: “Your actions have made it evident that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI. We cannot work for or with people who lack competence, judgment, and care for our mission and our employees,” it said. The letter said that they could choose to work for Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, who were newly hired by Microsoft.
The tweet may have been deleted.
Key signatories include CTO Mira Muratiwho was initially tapped as interim CEO, COO Brad Lightcap, Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon, as well as Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, who as a board member helped oust Altman, but now regrets his participation in the coup.
OpenAI Reportedly Bleeding “Dozens of Employees” According to Information. The open letter makes clear that hundreds of people are willing to leave if the board is not replaced. Early on Monday morning, OpenAI leadership apparently expressed support for Altman by posting “OpenAI is nothing without its people” on X (formerly known as Twitter). Those who posted the apparently coordinated message include Murad, Kwonand light cap.
The tweet may have been deleted.
Here is a summary. Altman was fired; Brockman resigned. Murati was CEO for about two days. Altman was almost rehired, but the board appointed Shear as the new CEO. Sutskever is feeling bad and a mass exodus has begun at OpenAI.
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Artificial intelligence
OpenAI
