OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence company, is currently facing a significant internal crisis following the unexpected dismissal of its CEO, Sam Altman. The decision to oust Altman has reportedly led to a potential mass exodus of employees, with nearly all threatening to quit and join Microsoft. Over 700 employees have signed a letter demanding the current board's resignation and Altman's reinstatement, putting the future of OpenAI in doubt. This situation could potentially impact thousands of start-ups relying on OpenAI's AI technology.
The dismissal of Altman was reportedly due to tensions between him, who wanted to push AI development more aggressively, and board members who advocated for a more cautious approach. Following Altman's departure, OpenAI's chief technology officer, Mira Murati, is currently serving as interim CEO. However, the position was initially offered to former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Scale AI CEO Alex Wang, both of whom turned it down. The board also pursued the CEO of competitor Anthropic, Dario Amodei, and proposed a merger between the two companies.
In response to the situation, venture capital firms with stakes in OpenAI's for-profit entity are considering collaborating with Microsoft and senior OpenAI employees to bring Altman back. The plan would involve creating untenable conditions for the new management through a combination of a mass revolt by senior researchers, withholding cloud computing credits from Microsoft, and a potential lawsuit from investors. This could result in Microsoft, which has a partnership with OpenAI, essentially acquiring the company and gaining significant AI talent from the situation.
OpenAI, which was recently valued at $80B and celebrated reaching over 100 million weekly users, is now dealing with this potential employee revolt. The outcome of this situation remains uncertain and could significantly reshape the future of the company.