Sam Altman Returns to OpenAI as CEO

In a whirlwind of events since last week, OpenAI’s board of directors team finally restored co-founder Sam Altman as Chief Executive Officer late Tuesday, November 21. A new executive board is now being constructed, with the initially confirmed members including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and former Salesforce Inc. CEO Bret Taylor, figures with more traditional business backgrounds than the departing members.

The exact new board membership is a fluid situation. But it necessitated an overhaul for Altman to return. According to The New York Times, Adam D’Angelo, the Chief Executive of Quora, will be the only holdover.

Altman’s return as CEO to OpenAI is not surprising. Despite Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella offering Altman and OpenAI co-founder and President Greg Brockman lead roles in a to-be-created special AI Research and Development division at Microsoft, it seemed a stretch that they would be inclined to stay at Microsoft for the long haul, subject to the bureaucracy and slowness a tech giant would comparatively be to a scrappy startup.

However, Nadella was instrumental in the negotiation efforts to have Altman reinstated as Chief Executive and insisted on a mutually beneficial resolution.

The confirmation of Altman’s return was shared by the OpenAI account on X at 1:01am Eastern, today.

Altman’s Return as CEO was Inevitable after Threats to Quit from Employees

It became increasingly clear in the days since Altman was originally ousted by the former executive board that he would need to return to OpenAI to keep the firm alive. Once news was confirmed that Altman was ousted, mass threats to quit were made by nearly all of OpenAI employees in protest.

Complicating matters was Nadella offering any OpenAI employee matching equity and lucrative compensation to come to Microsoft. Marc Benioff, co-CEO of Salesforce, also enticed OpenAI employees with lucrative paydays should they come to support AI efforts at Salesforce.

While the fallout is sure to continue—there is plenty of more news to emerge from this situation as the new board is formed—employees seem to be ecstatic that Altman and Brockman are back.

Microsoft Seeks More Transparency in OpenAI

Microsoft—despite being a 49% stakeholder in OpenAI’s current valuation—found out a mere minute before the rest of the public that Altman was ousted last week. Nadella and Microsoft are seeking more transparency in the governance of OpenAI and its key decisions moving forward.

Nadella is stressing increased partnership—and likely communication—between the two companies moving forward. Nadella vowed that he, and Microsoft, “would never be surprised again” with news out of OpenAI.

“We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance. Sam, Greg, and I have talked and agreed they have a key role to play along with the OAI leadership team in ensuring OAI continues to thrive and build on its mission. We look forward to building on our strong partnership and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners,” Nadella stated.

Altman stated in a tweet that he is looking forward to “building on its strong partnership” with Microsoft.

It’s presumed at this time Mira Murati will remain as Chief Technology Officer of OpenAI. She was briefly interim CEO before the previous board appointed Emmett Shear.

Shear—who lasted a mere 72 hours as interim chief executive—stated that he was “glad to have been part of the solution” and “pleased” with the news of Altman returning.