OpenAI Board Abruptly Ousts CEO Sam Altman

In news that shook Silicon Valley on Friday, Sam Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, was abruptly fired, though no one yet knows quite why. The Verge and the AP report that the company's board of directors made the move, releasing a statement that noted a "leadership transition" after a "deliberative review process." The board wrote that the 38-year-old Altman "was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities." It added: "The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI." Mira Murati, OpenAI's chief technology officer, will be serving as interim CEO while a permanent replacement is sought. More on what's known so far:

• Co-founder quits: Greg Brockman, who was serving as OpenAI's president and chairman of the board, tendered his own resignation after Altman's ouster was announced, reports Fox Business. "Based on today's news, I quit," he wrote in a statement. "Genuinely wishing you all nothing but the best. I continue to believe in the mission of creating safe [artificial general intelligence] that benefits all of humanity."
• More from Brockman: The now-ex president detailed in a tweet how Altman's firing went down, as well as what he was told about his own role, reports the San Francisco Standard. Brockman said that he was informed on Friday afternoon by OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever that Altman was gone, and that he himself was being removed from the board, but that he was still "vital to the company and would retain his role." Brockman assured followers that he and Altman "will be fine. Greater things coming soon."

• Another blindside: Microsoft, which is OpenAI's closest partner, apparently didn't know about Altman's ouster until a minute or so before the company shared the news, a source tells Axios, but it still seems to be business as usual for the tech giant. "We have a long-term agreement with OpenAI with full access to everything we need to deliver on our innovation agenda and an exciting product roadmap ... and remain committed to our partnership, and to Mira and the team," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote in a Friday blog post.
• OpenAI's new leader: The New York Times has more on the 34-year-old Murati, a Dartmouth grad born in Albania who came to the company from Tesla in 2018. "What else is there to do more inspiring than elevate and increase collective intelligence of humanity?" Murati said at a Silicon Valley event over the summer.
• A look back: Slate dives into OpenAI's history, as well as that of Altman, with the outlet calling his origin story "a classic Silicon Valley fable" (college dropout, VC machinations, etc.).
• What's next: Writing on Altman's "Icarus-like fall" for the Atlantic, Ross Andersen wonders where OpenAI goes from here, and also notes how baffled he is over Altman's firing, as there didn't seem to be much in the way of dissent. "Was it a colorful indiscretion in his personal life? An internal power play? Did he go rogue in some way? Once we know, we'll be able to say more about OpenAI's future, and his," Andersen writes.
• Altman's reaction: The former CEO didn't say too much online after the news broke, noting that "i loved my time at openai," which he called "transformative." He added that while the experience of being booted had been "weird," an unexpected side effect was "the outpouring of love" he'd received, "sorta like reading your own eulogy while you're still alive." Altman also hinted he might not be so restrained in future correspondence, writing in an X post: "If i start going off, the openai board should go after me for the full value of my shares."

(More Sam Altman stories.)