OpenAI Reaches Deal With Sam Altman to Return as CEO, With New Board in Place

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor One week ago, OpenAI’s board fired CEO Sam Altman. Now, the pioneering artificial intelligence startup, which created buzzy AI chatbot ChatGPT, is bringing him back. “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo,” the not-for-profit research company posted Friday night on X. “We are collaborating to figure out the details.

Thank you so much for your patience through this.” The new board comprises former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor; Larry Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury and president of Harvard University; and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo.

D’Angelo was previously on OpenAI’s board; the three directors who evidently are no longer on the board are: OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever; tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley; and Helen Toner, director of strategy and foundational research grants at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology.

The OpenAI CEO switcheroo comes after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had announced on Nov. 19 that it had hired Altman, as well as OpenAI president Greg Brockman (who had quit after Altman was dismissed), to lead a new AI research team at the tech giant.