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On Friday, the board of OpenAI, the AI startup behind ChatGPT and other viral AI-powered hits, did something unexpected but seemingly well within its right: removed<\/a> the company\u2019s CEO, Sam Altman.<\/p>\n But judging by how the situation\u2019s unfolded, it seems that OpenAI\u2019s investors and partners \u2014 and many of its employees \u2014 were more comfortable with the idea\u00a0<\/em>of the board\u2019s power than it exercising that power. And they didn\u2019t count on the cult of personality surrounding Altman, the former president of Y Combinator and a longtime fixture of the Silicon Valley startup scene.<\/p>\n On Saturday evening, just over 24 hours after the OpenAI board unceremoniously announced that Altman would be replaced by Mira Murati, OpenAI\u2019s CTO, on a temporary basis, multiple<\/a> publications<\/a> published reports suggesting that the OpenAI board was in talks to have Altman return at the helm.<\/p>\n What changed their mind? The ire and panic, of investors, no doubt \u2014 and rankled ranks.<\/p>\n Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, a major<\/a> OpenAI partner<\/a>, was reportedly<\/a> \u201cfurious\u201d to learn of Altman\u2019s departure \u201cminutes<\/a>\u201d after it happened, and has been in touch with Altman \u2014 and pledged to support him \u2014 as OpenAI backers recruit<\/a> Microsoft\u2019s aid in exerting pressure on the board to reverse course. Meanwhile, some key venture capital backers of OpenAI are said to be contemplating a lawsuit against the board; none, including Khosla Ventures and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, a former OpenAI board member, were given advance notice of the decision to fire Altman.<\/p>\n Microsoft in particular has a lot of leverage. OpenAI has received only a fraction<\/a> of the company\u2019s recent $10 billion investment, according to Semafor, and a significant portion of the funding is in the form of cloud compute purchases instead of cash. Withholding those credits \u2014 and the rest of the cash investment \u2014 could leave OpenAI, which is hungry for capital as the costs of running and training its AI systems mount, in a financially untenable position.<\/p>\n As the board considers its next move, OpenAI top AI researchers and executives are calling it quits.<\/p>\n On Friday, Greg Brockman, OpenAI\u2019s president and a co-founder, resigned after the board stripped him of his position as chair. Three senior OpenAI researchers left after Brockman, including the director of research Jakub Pachocki and head of preparedness Aleksander Madry. And more employees are reportedly<\/a> tendering their resignations.<\/p>\n They perceive it as a power struggle with unacceptable levels of collateral damage between two board members in particular, Quora CEO Adam D\u2019Angelo and Sutskever, and Altman. Sutskever said during a company all-hands meeting on Friday that he felt removing Altman was \u201cnecessary\u201d to protect OpenAI\u2019s mission of \u201cmaking AI beneficial to humanity,\u201d suggesting Altman\u2019s commercial ambitions for the company were beginning to unsettle the board\u2019s kingmakers. (OpenAI\u2019s board is technically a part of a nonprofit that governs OpenAI\u2019s monetization strategy.)<\/p>\n But many<\/a> in the tech community \u2014 and apparently OpenAI \u2014 felt the opposite. The outpouring of high-profile<\/a> support<\/a> for Altman was immediate.<\/p>\n And so, as Altman and Brockman approach<\/a> investors about a new AI-chip-focused venture and OpenAI\u2019s employee stock sale<\/a> faces an uncertain future, the board of directors has an uncomfortable about-face ahead of it. Sutskever and the rest of the board \u2014 tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley; and Helen Toner, the director of strategy at Georgetown University\u2019s Center for Security and Emerging Technology \u2014 might\u2019ve felt their decision on Altman\u2019s firing was right and justified. But it seems it wasn\u2019t truly their decision to make.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n