According to sources familiar with the matter, Sam Altman, the recently ousted CEO of OpenAI, is reportedly working on a new artificial intelligence venture that he plans to launch. Former OpenAI president Greg Brockman, who left the company due to Altman’s firing, is expected to join the new effort. The Information, which first reported the venture, cited a person familiar with the matter.
Despite Altman’s unavailability for comment and Brockman’s lack of immediate response to a Reuters request, it is speculated that some researchers at OpenAI, such as Szymon Sidor, may also join Altman’s new venture, although no official confirmation has been made.
What’s more, Altman has been in discussions with Jony Ive, Apple’s former design chief, about creating a new artificial intelligence (AI) hardware device, according to a report from the Information in September. The same report stated that SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has also been involved in the conversation.
On Friday, the board of OpenAI, the company behind the popular product ChatGPT, removed Altman from his position. Co-founder Brockman resigned shortly after Altman’s dismissal. An internal company memo, viewed by Reuters, indicated that Altman’s ousting was due to a “breakdown of communications” rather than “malfeasance,” as stated by the Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap.
(Reporting by Krystal Hu in New York, Anna Tong and Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco, Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Kenneth Li)
