Ousted OpenAI CEO Altman joins executives at headquarters

The board of the company on Friday fired Altman, who to many was the human face of generative AI, sending shock waves across the tech industry.

Sam Altman at OpenAI office (Image credit: Sam Altman/X)

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Ousted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former President Greg Brockman joined executives at the company’s San Francisco headquarters on Sunday after interim CEO Mira Murati told staff she invited Altman, The Information reported on Sunday.

Altman is discussing a possible return to the company behind the ChatGPT bot even as he considers launching a new artificial intelligence (AI) venture, Reuters reported on Sunday. The board of the company on Friday fired Altman, who to many was the human face of generative AI, sending shock waves across the tech industry.

OpenAI declined to comment to Reuters on the details of the report from The Information.

Altman posted on Sunday on messaging platform X an image of himself wearing an OpenAI guest badge with the caption: “First and last time I ever wear one of these.”

first and last time i ever wear one of these pic.twitter.com/u3iKwyWj0a

— Sam Altman (@sama) November 19, 2023

Altman’s sacking angered current and former employees and worried them over how an upcoming $86 billion share sale could be affected by the sudden management upheaval.

OpenAI’s former president and co-founder, Brockman also arrived at the office on Sunday, The Information reported. Brockman had stepped down from the board as chairman as part of the management shuffle, and announced on Friday he quit the company.

If Altman returns to OpenAI, Microsoft, its biggest backer, is considering taking a role on the board, the Information reported on Sunday, citing two people familiar with the talks.

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Microsoft could either take a seat on OpenAI’s board of directors or as a board observer without voting power, the report added.