The once high-profile chief executive of OpenAI, Sam Altman, has been ousted from the company by the board of directors. Altman attracted the attention of many in the tech industry last year when the company released the popular online chatbot ChatGPT. Altman’s departure has come as a surprise to many, as he played a significant role in promoting the tech industry’s shift toward artificial intelligence.
Altman co-founded OpenAI with backing from Elon Musk in 2015 and with the support of Microsoft, the company has become a formidable presence. Now, Mira Murati, who served as the company’s chief technology officer, has been announced as the interim chief executive, further surprising tech industry employees and other stakeholders. The move has also undoubtedly affected Microsoft, which invested $13 billion in OpenAI recently, and has about a 49 percent stake in this enterprise. The future of OpenAI, particularly its ongoing plans and funding negotiations, now lies in the hands of the interim chief executive, and how much the tech industry further embraces the paradigm shift that Altman had sought to lead.
Current and former OpenAI employees were taken off guard by Altman’s departure and, with an unanticipated shift of power at this significant AI research company, industry members are anxious to learn the board’s reasoning behind this decision. With Microsoft’s stock price taking a hit after the announcement, it is evident that the repercussions of Altman’s departure are being felt widely across the tech industry, especially in fields such as generative artificial intelligence. These technologies, the result of more than a decade of research, promise to impact everything from email programs to internet search engines and digital tutors. It remains to be seen how OpenAI will navigate what has been a surprising twist of events by changing the leadership of the company.
