Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today.
Let us first say thank you to all the incredible people who we have worked with at OpenAI, our customers, our investors, and all of those who have been reaching out.
We too are still trying to figure out exactly what happened. Here is what we know:
- Last night, Sam got a text from Ilya asking to talk at noon Friday. Sam joined a Google Meet and the whole board, except Greg, was there. Ilya told Sam he was being fired and that the news was going out very soon.
- At 12:19pm, Greg got a text from Ilya asking for a quick call. At 12:23pm, Ilya sent a Google Meet link. Greg was told that he was being removed from the board (but was vital to the company and would retain his role) and that Sam had been fired. Around the same time, OpenAI published a blog post.
- As far as we know, the management team was made aware of this shortly after, other than Mira who found out the night prior.
The outpouring of support has been really nice; thank you, but please don’t spend any time being concerned. We will be fine. Greater things coming soon.
Sam Altman’s firing as OpenAI CEO was not the result of “malfeasance or anything related to our financial, business, safety, or security/privacy practices” but rather a “breakdown in communications between Sam Altman and the board,” per an internal memo from chief operating officer Brad Lightcap seen by Axios.
Perhaps worth noting: one of the three resignations, Aleksander Madry, was head of the preparedness team which is responsible for preventing risks from AI such as self-replication.
Update: Greg Brockman quit.
Update: Sam and Greg say:
Update: three more resignations including Jakub Pachocki.
Update:
Update: Sam is planning to launch something (no details yet).
Update: Sam may return as OpenAI CEO.
Update: Tigris.
Update: talks with Sam and the board.
Update: Mira wants to hire Sam and Greg in some capacity; board still looking for a permanent CEO.
Update: Emmett Shear is interim CEO; Sam won’t return.
Update: lots more resignations (according to an insider).
Update: Sam and Greg leading a new lab in Microsoft.
Update: total chaos.
Perhaps worth noting: one of the three resignations, Aleksander Madry, was head of the preparedness team which is responsible for preventing risks from AI such as self-replication.
Note that Madry only just started, iirc.
Also: Jakub Pachocki who was the director of research