In a surprising turn of events, Sam Altman will not be resuming his role as CEO of OpenAI, despite the company’s efforts to persuade him to return. Co-founder and board director Ilya Sutskever confirmed that after a weekend of negotiations, Altman has decided not to rejoin the startup he helped establish in 2015. As a result, Emmett Shear, co-founder of Twitch, will step in as the interim CEO, according to Sutskever.
This decision contradicts the initial comments made by OpenAI executives to the staff on Saturday and early Sunday, and has the potential to escalate the crisis sparked by Altman’s abrupt dismissal from the board on Friday. The removal of President Greg Brockman from the board on the same day and the subsequent resignation of key engineer Brockman, along with three senior researchers, has heightened the tension within the company. This has also raised concerns about a possible exodus of talent to OpenAI’s competitors, such as Google, and to a new venture Altman has been planning since his departure. Morale at OpenAI has taken a hit, as distressed employees left the headquarters in San Francisco following the internal announcement of the decision. Among them, it was observed that research chief Bob McGrew, who was among the executives advocating for Altman and Brockman’s return, had also left.
