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OpenAI has officially appointed a new board of directors composed of Bret Taylor, who is now the chair of the board and the President and COO of Salesforce; Larry Summers, a former U.S. Treasury Secretary and current Harvard professor; and Adam D’Angelo, co-founder and CEO of Quora/Poe. Microsoft, a major investor in OpenAI, is now a non-voting partner. This marks the end of a chaotic two-week period filled with leadership changes.
Or perhaps it’s just the beginning. Despite the new board being established, many unresolved issues remain, suggesting more drama could be on the horizon.
Here’s a recap of recent events: On November 17, 2023, just before Thanksgiving, the previous OpenAI board—which included CEO and co-founder Sam Altman, President Greg Brockman, chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner from Georgetown—abruptly voted to remove Altman as CEO. They stated that Altman was “not consistently candid in his communications,” causing them to lose confidence in his leadership.
This sudden move shocked Silicon Valley and the wider world, partly due to OpenAI’s prominence in the generative AI industry.
Over the next 12 days, OpenAI saw interim CEOs come and go, the staff threatening to quit if Altman wasn’t reinstated, old controversial tweets resurfacing, and rumors of breakthroughs in AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) making headlines. Reuters reported that OpenAI might be close to a significant milestone with a model referred to as Q (Q star).
Now reinstated, Altman expresses optimism about the new board, praising their resilience and spirit. The new board is currently much smaller, halved from its size just a couple of weeks ago, and significantly reduced from its peak in 2021. Altman hints at plans to expand the board to include more diverse perspectives, but who these new members might be is still unknown.
Wired magazine reported that many qualified women were not interested in joining the board due to its apparent “boys club” mentality and the company’s instability. This poses a challenge in achieving the desired diversity in the new board.
Adam D’Angelo is the sole member remaining from the previous board, despite leading a company that competes with OpenAI. Altman has publicly supported D’Angelo, dismissing conflicts of interest.
OpenAI’s governance structure is another big question mark. Founded initially as a nonprofit, it evolved into a “capped profit” subsidiary in 2019. This complex structure gives the nonprofit board significant control. The board’s decision to fire Altman seemed to be motivated by a desire for more caution, while Altman and his backers, including Microsoft, seemed eager to push new products and services rapidly.
With the old board stepping down, Taylor, the new board chair, promises to enhance governance for greater trust among all stakeholders. The specifics of these changes are yet to be revealed.
Microsoft’s role in all this is also worth noting. While they are now a non-voting partner, Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella was deeply involved in the negotiations surrounding Altman’s reinstatement and was even prepared to bring Altman and Brockman into Microsoft.
Additionally, OpenAI was reportedly in the process of raising new funding at a $90 billion valuation before the upheaval. How this will be affected remains to be seen.
The role of Ilya Sutskever, who initiated Altman’s firing, also adds to the intrigue. Sutskever has expressed regret for his actions and wishes to continue working at OpenAI, but it’s uncertain how well this will sit with other team members who supported Altman.
Finally, the previous board has yet to provide a clear explanation for their actions, particularly their claim that Altman was not candid with them. Some speculate it might have involved new developments in AGI while others think it concerned Altman’s rapid deployment of new technologies.
Congress might get involved, with U.S. Representative Ro Khanna demanding public testimony from the board about the reasons behind their controversial actions. This could ultimately offer more transparency, but we might also have to wait for detailed accounts in future books about this period.