The high-stakes negotiations over the weekend at OpenAI have culminated in a decisive outcome: Sam Altman, co-founder of OpenAI, will not be returning as its CEO. This decision, communicated by co-founder and board director Ilya Sutskever to the staff on Sunday night, puts an end to the speculations and efforts by the company’s executives and top investors to reinstate him.
Emmett Shear, the co-founder of the popular video streaming site Twitch, has been appointed as the interim CEO, replacing Mira Murati, who briefly held the position following Altman's ouster and had been pushing for Altman's reinstatement after his controversial firing on Friday.
The board's decision to not reinstate Altman could exacerbate the crisis that began with his sudden ouster and the removal of President Greg Brockman from the board on Friday. Brockman's subsequent resignation, followed by the departure of three senior researchers, has raised concerns about a potential exodus to rival companies like Google and to new ventures, including one that Altman has been exploring since his firing.
OpenAI will now seek to move forward with new interim leadership, but restoring faith in vision and governance poses challenges amid the tumultuous power struggle