OpenAI fires its chief executive, then brings him back days later
The abrupt dismissal and rapid reinstatement of Sam Altman convulsed the company at the centre of the AI boom.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT and a central player in the artificial intelligence boom, abruptly fired its chief executive Sam Altman on Friday, setting off five days of extraordinary corporate drama that ended with his return and a near-complete turnover of the board that had ousted him.
The board announced Altman's removal with a terse statement saying he had not been "consistently candid" in his communications, without offering specifics. The decision blindsided employees, investors and OpenAI's close partner Microsoft, and the reasons behind it remained murky, though it appeared to reflect deep tensions over the pace of commercialisation and the company's unusual structure, which placed a non-profit board in charge of a fast-growing business.
What followed was chaotic. Microsoft moved to hire Altman and his allies, and the overwhelming majority of OpenAI's roughly 770 employees signed a letter threatening to quit and follow him unless the board resigned and reinstated him. Faced with the prospect of the company collapsing, the board relented.
Within days Altman was back as chief executive, and most of the directors who had fired him stepped down, replaced by a new board. The episode laid bare the fragility of governance at one of the world's most important technology companies and the high stakes of the race to build ever more powerful AI.
It also highlighted an unresolved tension at the heart of the field — between those urging caution and those pushing to move fast — that would continue to shape the industry.