Sam Altman, Chief Government Officer of OpenAI, and Mira Murati, Chief Expertise Officer of OpenAI, converse throughout The Wall Road Journal’s WSJ Tech Reside Convention in Laguna Seashore, California on October 17, 2023.
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Pictures
Sam Altman’s sudden ouster from OpenAI on Friday shocked Silicon Valley. Not solely was Altman, 38, CEO of the most well liked startup on the planet, however he had emerged because the face of generative AI after his firm’s ChatGPT chatbot went viral late final yr.
From the skin, there have been some indicators of technological challenges at OpenAI, however no indications that tensions have been rising within the boardroom and the C-suite. Altman was nonetheless out and about, proselytizing the worth of superior synthetic intelligence whereas additionally warning of its potential harms and advocating for regulation.
Simply final month, studies surfaced that OpenAI was in talks with buyers to promote worker shares at an astonishing $86 billion valuation. That is after tech valuations corrected dramatically over the previous 18 months from the decade-long bull market that was fueled by low-cost cash and an entire lot of FOMO (concern of lacking out).
OpenAI was the business darling in a time of issue. Microsoft was pouring in billions of {dollars}. The corporate topped CNBC’s Disruptor 50 listing, which was printed in Could. Shortly earlier than the listing got here out, Altman advised CNBC, “I do assume we’re deep into a brand new technological wave and that is, I feel, the largest one shortly.”
That every one made Altman’s exit laborious to fathom and had some within the tech neighborhood comparing the transfer to Apple’s firing of Steve Jobs in 1985. In a press release on its web site, OpenAI mentioned, “The board not has confidence in his capability to proceed main OpenAI.” The corporate named Mira Murati, who was the chief know-how officer, as interim CEO.
Should you adopted Altman for the previous two weeks, you’ll’ve seen an business chief within the heart of the motion. This is an abbreviated timeline of the times main as much as Altman’s departure:
Nov. 6:
At the event, Altman said prices for OpenAI’s software would be cut and individual users could customize ChatGPT. He also unveiled an OpenAI app store, an additional way that the company and its investors could monetize its products.
In a surprise appearance, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella joined Altman on stage to discuss the future of OpenAI and their partnership. Microsoft committed an additional $10 billion earlier this year, the largest AI investment of 2023, according to PitchBook.
“I think we have the best partnership in tech,” Altman told Nadella onstage. “I’m excited for us to build AGI together,” he said, referring to artificial general intelligence.
Nov. 8:
OpenAI said in the evening that its issues were related to a denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.
“We are dealing with periodic outages due to an abnormal traffic pattern reflective of a DDoS attack,” the company said.
Issues persisted into the next day before being fixed.
Nov. 14:
Altman posted on X, previously Twitter, that there can be a pause in signing up for ChatGPT Plus. He mentioned there had been a surge in requests after the DevDay bulletins and that utilization “has exceeded our capability and we wish to ensure everybody has an excellent expertise.”
Nov. 16:
Altman appeared on the Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, talking on AI.

At 3:28 p.m. ET on Friday, OpenAI printed the weblog submit saying Altman’s dismissal. On the similar time, the corporate mentioned Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president, was being stripped of his function as chairman of the board however would keep on as an govt.
This is what occurred subsequent:
4:46 p.m. ET:
Altman made his first public assertion about his departure, writing on X that his expertise on the firm was “transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world slightly bit.”
7:09 p.m. ET:
11:42 p.m. ET:
In an X submit, Brockman offered a detailed account of Altman’s removing.
He mentioned that on Thursday night time, Altman acquired a textual content from OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever asking if they might discuss the subsequent day at midday. On Friday afternoon, Brockman wrote, Altman joined a Google Meet with OpenAI board members Sutskever, Tasha McCauley, Adam D’Angelo and Helen Toner. Brockman, who was chairman of the board presently, wasn’t there.
Within the assembly, Sutskever advised Altman he was out as CEO. Shortly after that, Sutskever knowledgeable Brockman he was being eliminated as chairman however might stay president. OpenAI’s weblog submit was launched at “across the similar time,” Brockman wrote.
He mentioned that it appeared Murati solely knew of the transfer the night time earlier than. Altman reposted Brockman’s chronicling of the occasions.
Nov. 18:
Chief Working Officer Brad Lightcap despatched a memo to OpenAI workers addressing the firing. Lightcap mentioned everybody was caught without warning on the board’s determination and mentioned Murati “has our full help as CEO.”
“We will say definitively that the board’s determination was not made in response to malfeasance or something associated to our monetary, enterprise, security, or safety/privateness practices,” Lightcap wrote.
— CNBC’s Jordan Novet contributed to this report
WATCH: OpenAI says Sam Altman exiting as CEO
