The ongoing OpenAI saga unfolds.
In a recent development, Ilya Sutskever, the chief scientist and board director of the AI startup, issued a kind of apology on X (formerly Twitter). Sutskever was part of the group that advocated for the sudden removal of Sam Altman, the former president of Y Combinator, as OpenAI’s CEO and the demotion of Greg Brockman, the company’s president, from his position as board chairman.
The reversal in stance can be attributed to a couple of reasons:
A significant number of OpenAI’s employees, almost 500 out of around 770, including Sutskever himself, have signed a letter expressing their intention to quit unless the board resigns and reinstates Altman. The letter contends that the board’s process in terminating Altman and removing Brockman jeopardized their work, undermined the company’s mission, and revealed a lack of competence in overseeing OpenAI.
Altman has joined Microsoft to lead a research lab alongside Brockman, with Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, stating that they will “set a new pace for innovation.” Altman hinted at the continuation of their mission cryptically, stating on X, “the mission continues.”
Sutskever now finds himself in a challenging situation. Investors are displeased, putting OpenAI’s financing at risk; Microsoft, once a close partner, is now positioning itself as a rival; and OpenAI employees are leaving in protest.
However, Sutskever played a role in this situation. Just on Sunday, he, along with the rest of OpenAI’s board, released a statement affirming their decision and criticizing Altman’s behavior and lack of transparency. Instead of yielding to Altman’s reported demands to return as CEO, the board appointed a new interim CEO, former Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear.
The root cause of Altman’s removal, as reported over the weekend, was clashes with Sutskever over differences in managing AI’s potential harm to the public. Sutskever was concerned that OpenAI was advancing its technologies too quickly, compromising safety. The board cited Altman’s clashes with Sutskever but did not specify any incidents leading to his removal.
Altman’s firing was abruptly announced on Friday afternoon, without any prior notice to investors or employees. By Friday evening, Altman was already pitching a new AI startup to investors, signaling his move to Microsoft alongside Brockman.
