Timeline of Sam Altman’s firing from OpenAI and its consequences

In a dramatic turn of events late Friday, former Y Combinator president Sam Altman was fired by the board of directors as CEO of OpenAI, the AI ​​startup responsible for viruses such as ChatGPT, GPT-4 and DALL-E 3. The company behind popular AI products. Subsequently, the company’s longtime president and co-founder Greg Brockman resigned, as did three senior OpenAI researchers. The consequences continue.

This is a rapidly evolving situation and we are still working to get to the bottom of it. No doubt more will become clear over time. However, to make it easier for you to keep up with everything happening at the same time, we’ve put together a timeline; we’ll do our best to keep it up to date.

Timeline of Sam Altman’s firing from OpenAI

January 5

The identity of the OpenAI board observer has been revealed. According to Bloomberg, Microsoft has selected Dee Templeton, vice president of technology and research partnerships and operations and an advisor to Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott, as a non-voting board observer. Bloomberg said Templeton has begun attending board meetings; The Information previously reported that Templeton was being considered for the role.

November 29

Microsoft gets board observer

OpenAI announced that Microsoft will receive representation on its new initial board of directors in the form of a non-voting observer. It’s unclear who that observer might be, except that they won’t have formal voting rights in board matters.

November 21

Sam Altman reaches agreement with OpenAI to return as CEO and “preliminary” new board of directors

OpenAI revealed in a surprise statement that it had “reached an agreement in principle” with Altman to return him as CEO. In addition to Altman’s return, its new “initial” board of directors will include former Salesforce CEO Bret Taylor, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Quora founder Adam D’Angelo.

Ultraman also released information about the new deal, let’s dive into the roller coaster we’ve been on since he was fired on Friday. In his words, his decision to join Microsoft on Sunday “is the best path for me and the team.” Since then, the formation of a new board of directors and Microsoft’s support seemed enough to bring him back to the artificial intelligence company he co-founded.

Altman held talks with the board of directors

According to reports, the OpenAI board of directors is negotiating with former Y Combinator president and OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO as soon as this week. According to Bloomberg, discussions are ongoing between Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, a current member of OpenAI’s board of directors, and Altman and possibly other board members, the company said in a briefing, citing people familiar with the matter.

Tensions boil over in boardroom

Prior to his ouster, Sam Altman made a move to oust board member Helen Toner because of what he believed was an article she co-authored, according to The New York Times The paper is too critical of OpenAI. Among other things, this contributes to OpenAI’s current predicament. Speaking of which, the Times said talks to rehire Altman are continuing, but a major remaining sticking point is the “guardrails” aimed at improving Altman’s communication with the board.

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November 20

Ultraman joins Microsoft

Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and colleagues announced that they will join Microsoft to lead a new artificial intelligence research team. Nadella opened the door to other OpenAI employees and said they would receive the resources they need if they chose to join.

Suzkville’s fault

Sutskever published a post on X saying he regretted the decision to oust Altman and said he would make every effort to reinstate Altman as CEO.

Employees threaten to resign

Nearly 500 of OpenAI’s roughly 770 employees, notably Sutskever, published a letter saying they may resign unless the startup’s board resigns and reappoints the ousted Altman. That number climbed to more than 650 late Monday.

Ultraman and Brockman consider returning

According to The Verge, Altman’s deal to switch to Microsoft has not yet been finalized, and Altman and Brockman are still open to returning to OpenAI. That is, if the remaining board members who initially fired him resign.

OpenAI board considers merger

According to The Information, OpenAI’s board of directors has contacted Dario Amodei, co-founder and CEO of rival large language model developer Anthropic, about the possibility of a merger between the two companies. The move was part of OpenAI’s efforts to convince Amodei to replace Altman as CEO, but Amodei quickly rejected the CEO offer.

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November 19

Altman will meet at OpenAI headquarters

According to The Information, Altman is expected to meet at OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters as OpenAI executives push for his reinstatement as CEO. Brockman has been invited to join, but it’s unclear whether he will accept the offer from senior management.

Board negotiations hit roadblocks

According to Bloomberg, Lightcap, Murati and others are pushing for the board to reinstate Altman. But predictably, directors are resisting. As of midday Sunday, the board had not yet resigned over concerns about who could replace them and was reviewing candidates. Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor may be a new member.

Ultraman exits and cuts in

Altman will not return as CEO, The Information reported, citing an internal memo sent by Sutskever. As the search for a new permanent CEO continues, OpenAI has named video streaming site Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear as interim CEO, replacing Murati.

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November 18

“Not…for malfeasance”

In an internal memo sent by Axios on Saturday morning, OpenAI chief operating officer Brad Lightcap said yesterday’s announcement ” [the management team] Surprising” and management “had multiple conversations with the board to try to better understand the reasons and process behind their decisions. ” As of Saturday morning, discussions were still ongoing, according to the memo.

“We can state unequivocally that the board’s decision was not in response to malfeasance or anything related to our financial, business, security or security/privacy practices,” Lightcap added. “This is a communication between Sam and the board. Disruption… We still share your concerns about the way the process was handled, are working to resolve the issues, and will provide the most up-to-date information possible.”

OpenAI’s funding is in trouble

OpenAI’s plan to sell employee shares, which would value the startup at about $86 billion, could be in jeopardy. The Information told three sources at the company that they no longer expect the sale, led by Thrive Capital, to happen or, if it does, to reduce the valuation as a result of recent developments.

Ultraman plans new business

According to The Information, Altman has been telling investors that he plans to launch a new venture. Brockman is expected to join the effort — in whatever form it takes. (Probably an artificial intelligence chip startup.)

Investors urge Ultraman’s return

Investors are reportedly outraged by the turn of events and are pressuring the OpenAI board to reinstate Altman, even recruiting Microsoft. Nadella is said to be compassionate.

Board of Directors agrees in principle to change direction

According to The Verge, the board agreed in principle to resign and allow Altman and Brockman to return. However, it was confusing and missed yesterday’s deadline for many OpenAI employees to leave the company. Ultraman is said to be ambivalent about returning and demanding “significant” governance changes.

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November 17

Brockman was demoted

Brockman said he received a text message from Sutzkerville shortly after noon Friday asking for a call as soon as possible. After sending the Google Meet link, Brockman was told he would be removed as chairman of the board “but is critical to the company and will retain his position as president,” and that Altman had been fired.

Ultraman was publicly announced as being fired

OpenAI published an article on its blog announcing the senior executive changes. The company’s management team quickly realized this.

plenary meeting

OpenAI held an all-hands meeting on Friday afternoon, at which Sutskever defended Altman’s ouster. He dismissed suggestions that ousting Ultraman amounted to a “hostile takeover” and claimed it was necessary to protect OpenAI’s mission of “making artificial intelligence benefit humanity.”

Microsoft issued a statement

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, a major investor and partner in OpenAI, issued a statement regarding Altman’s firing:

Brockman resigns

Brockman announced his resignation from OpenAI, citing “today’s news.” After sending a memo internally, he posted the text on X.

OpenAI senior researcher resigns

Following Brockman, three senior OpenAI researchers resigned, including research director Jakub Pachocki and readiness lead Aleksander Madry.

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November 16

Ilya Sutskever arranges a call with Altman

According to a post by Brockman on

Mulati tells the story of Ultraman’s dismissal

Brockman claimed that Mira Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer and now interim CEO, learned late Thursday that Altman would be fired.