OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will join the company's board of directors after completing an internal review of his controversial ouster in November 2023, the company announced late Friday. The AI giant has revamped its corporate governance structure and policies and expanded its board with three new members.
Altman was abruptly ousted, sparking a week of drama at the tech establishment that led him to join open AI investor Microsoft before returning to an executive role. With a new original board that does not include him.
“Together Sam and [co-founder] Greg [Brockman] “They are the right leaders for OpenAI,” said Brett Taylor, chairman of the board, in the announcement.
The internal review was conducted by law firm WilmerHale and included interviews with numerous individuals and a review of more than 30,000 documents, OpenAI said. He cited a “breakdown of trust” between the former board and Altman. While the board acted as it authorized, the report concluded that Altman's actions “did not warrant removal.”
“The former board believed that its actions at the time would alleviate internal governance problems and did not believe that its actions would destabilize the company,” Wilmerhill wrote. Development speed, OpenAI financing, or disclosures to investors, customers, or business partners.
There were rumors that Altman was fired because the company's AI research made a potentially dangerous discovery.
OpenAI announced the election of three new board members: Sue Desmond-Hellman, former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Nicole Seligman, former EVP and General Counsel of Sony Global; and Fiji Simo, CEO and Chairman of Instacart. He will join current board members Adam D'Angelo, Larry Summers and Brett Taylor as well as Altman.
The board made changes to OpenAI's governance structure with new corporate governance guidelines, a strengthened conflict of interest policy, an employee and contractor hotline, and additional board committees focused on mission and strategy.
Altman's return to the board comes just days after Elon Musk, who helped found Open AI, sued the company and its leaders for breaching contractual agreements and abandoning its original mission of developing AI “for the benefit of humanity.” Profit.
In response to Musk's allegations, the company released a series of internal emails that suggested Musk was focused on profits.
“If you can't seriously compete but continue to openly research, you may be making things worse and helping them ‘for free,'” Field reportedly wrote.
Altman's return to the board and the expansion of membership come at a time of growing concern over the rapid growth and potential of artificial intelligence. As one of the leading AI research organizations, OpenAI has faced increased scrutiny for governance, transparency, and alignment with its stated mission.
“We recognize the importance of our role in securing transformative technologies for the global good,” Taylor said.
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