The former CEO of OpenAI, the company responsible for creating ChatGPT, is going back to the company that let him go at the end of last week. This marks the end of a battle for control that lasted several days and caused a stir in the tech world, highlighting the challenges in developing artificial intelligence in a responsible manner.

According to a statement released on Tuesday by OpenAI, headquartered in San Francisco, an agreement has been reached in principle for Sam Altman to resume his role as CEO and for a new initial board to be established.

The new board, which took over after Altman’s dismissal on Friday, will be headed by Bret Taylor, former co-CEO of Salesforce and previous chair of Twitter’s board before its acquisition by Elon Musk in the previous year. The other members of the board include Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary, and Adam D’Angelo, CEO of Quora.

The previous board of directors at OpenAI, which included D’Angelo, did not provide a clear explanation for their decision to terminate Altman. This created tension within the company and caused outside investors to put pressure on the startup.

The chaos also accentuated the differences between Altman — who’s become the face of generative AI’s rapid commercialization since ChatGPT’s arrival a year ago — and members of the company’s board who have expressed deep reservations about the safety risks posed by AI as it gets more advanced.

On Monday, Microsoft, who has put a significant amount of money into OpenAI and has access to their current technology, promptly hired Altman, along with another co-founder and former president, Greg Brockman. Brockman had previously resigned in protest after Altman’s removal. This action encouraged a potential departure of almost all of the startup’s 770 workers, who had signed a letter demanding the resignation of the board and the reinstatement of Altman.

Ilya Sutskever, the co-founder and chief scientist of OpenAI, was one of four board members who played a role in Altman’s removal. He later expressed remorse and called for the resignation of the board.

In recent days, Microsoft has promised to accept any employees who wish to join Altman and Brockman in a new AI research division at the company. CEO Satya Nadella also stated in several interviews on Monday that he is still open to the idea of Altman going back to OpenAI, as long as the issues with their governance are resolved.

On X late Tuesday, Nadella shared that the changes made to the OpenAI board are promising. He believes that this is a crucial initial step towards achieving a more stable, knowledgeable, and efficient form of governance.

In his personal message, Altman stated that he is excited to go back to OpenAI and continue to strengthen their collaboration with Microsoft, thanks to the new board and the support of Satya.

OpenAI was established by Altman as a non-profit organization with the goal of developing safe and advanced artificial general intelligence that surpasses human capabilities and positively impacts humanity. However, it has since transitioned into a for-profit business, still under the guidance of its non-profit board of directors. It remains to be seen if the addition of new members will result in any changes to the board’s structure.

“We are working together to determine the specifics,” OpenAI stated on X. “Thank you very much for your understanding and patience during this process.”

Nadella stated that Brockman, who previously served as OpenAI’s board chairman before Altman’s dismissal, will have an important role in guaranteeing the group’s ongoing success and advancement of its mission.

Earlier today, Brockman resumed using social media as if it were a normal day, promoting a new feature called ChatGPT Voice that was being released to users.

“Take a chance and see the difference in the ChatGPT experience,” stated Brockman, referring to a post from OpenAI’s primary X account showcasing a demo of the technology and cheekily alluding to recent controversy.

“The team has had a long night and we’re all feeling hungry. How many 16-inch pizzas should I order for the 778 employees at OpenAI?” asked the person. ChatGPT’s artificial voice suggested approximately 195 pizzas, guaranteeing each person gets three slices.

As for OpenAI’s short-lived interim CEO Emmett Shear, the second interim CEO in the days since Altman’s ouster, he posted on X that he was “deeply pleased by this result, after (tilde)72 very intense hours of work.”

When I joined OpenAI, I was uncertain about which direction to take,” stated Shear, the ex-leader of Twitch. “This was the best approach to ensure safety while also considering the needs of all parties involved. I am grateful to have contributed to finding a solution.”

Source: wral.com