Sam Altman Reacts to Ouster From OpenAI

Sam Altman is no longer the CEO of OpenAI after losing support of the board, according to a blog post from the company.

Soon after news broke of Altman's departure from the company, he took to X, formerly Twitter, to call his time at OpenAI "transformative."

Altman co-founded OpenAI in 2015 before later becoming CEO of the company behind ChatGPT. He has been credited by many people for helping usher in the AI boom.

In its announcement, OpenAI said Altman has departed as CEO and will also leave the company's board of directors. Mira Murati, OpenAI's chief technology officer, will serve as interim CEO while a search is conducted for a permanent successor.

"Mr. Altman's departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities," the OpenAI blog post said. "The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI."

Altman's X message was brief but indicated he would speak more later on his plans.

"I loved my time at OpenAI. It was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. Most of all, I loved working with such talented people," he wrote. "Will have more to say about what's next later."

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for OpenAI referred Newsweek to the blog post announcement.

Social media was soon flooded with posts about Altman's departure following OpenAI's announcement, some of which expressed surprise at the news while others were made in support of the former CEO.

Greg Isenberg, CEO of product design agency Late Checkout, wrote on X that Altman "skyrocketed" OpenAI's value "from zero to $80B, and still, he's out."

"This is exactly why I steer clear of venture capital. One moment you're in, the next you're out," Isenberg wrote. "You work for the board of directors, not for yourself."

"Sam Altman is a hero of mine. He built a company from nothing to $90 Billion in value, and changed our collective world forever," Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, posted on X.

Schmidt added: "I can't wait to see what he does next. I, and billions of people, will benefit from his future work—it's going to be simply incredible. Thank you @sama for all you have done for all of us."

Update 11/17/23, 7:08 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include more information.