Drama-AI

Nov 21

Below is a timeline of the goings-on at OpenAI since Friday, November 17th…

CEO Sam Altman Dismissed: Sam Altman was unexpectedly removed as CEO, surprising the tech community. The reason for his dismissal was unclear, causing dismay and anger among investors. (Tweet that started it all)
Co-Founder and President Quits: Following Altman's departure, CTO Mira Murati was appointed interim CEO, while co-founder Greg Brockman quit. Ilya Sutskever the co-founder and chief scientist is the head of this coup. Here's his documentary.
Support for Altman: Following Altman's ousting, there was significant support for him from prominent tech figures, investors, and OpenAI staff, with efforts to reinstate him led by Microsoft. He tweeted he loved his time at OpenAI upon being fired.
Greg's official timeline: Greg went to Twitter to give out the official time line of how things went down. (Tweet)

Board to Reinstate Altman: On Saturday a report came out by the Verge saying the board was in discussion to reinstate Altman as CEO.
Board pressure: Investors and OpenAI employees threatened the board ordering them to resign and reinstate Sam Altman as CEO or they would lose funding and employees respectfully.
Resistance to Reinstating Altman: Despite investor pressure, OpenAI's board seemed to resist reversing their decision. They had until 5pm on Saturday to resign and re appoint Sam and Greg but they were silent until Sunday.
OpenAI Love: He tweeted he loved his time at OpenAI upon being fired. And got immense support from OpenAI employees. Sam and Greg were not the only ones to lose their job tens of employees were also fired out of the blue.

Internal Conflict at OpenAI: The crisis was attributed to differing personalities and ambitions within OpenAI's leadership, particularly between Altman and Ilya Sutskever, a key figure in AI research.
Sam Trolls: Sam went to Twitter and said first and last time I will wear one of these (OpenAI Guest Badge) This caused so much speculation.
New CEO: OpenAI DID NOT reinstate Sam Altman but instead hired Emmett Shear former CEO of Twitch to become OpenAI's CEO
Microsoft's Involvement: Microsoft's CEO Satya announced that Altman and Brockman would join Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. And that all OpenAI employees would have a spot in the new division. Class Act Move.

Ilya Finally Speaks: Ilya Tweeted "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."
Microsoft stock: On the news of Sam and Greg joining Microsoft it is up almost 2.5% Monday morning at the time I am writing this.
Current CEO Shares his thoughts: Emmett Shear went to Twitter and shared his thoughts on the whole situation.
500+ employees threaten to quit: 700 of the 770 employees at OpenAI signed and drafted a letter to telling the board to resign or they will quit.
Sam Altman Might Return: According to The Verge, Ilya Sutskever flipped to support Altman🤯, but two more board members must change their minds for Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to return.

AI is Here, Smart, and Helping with… Paperwork?