\n<\/p>\n
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has a seat at the table \u2014 or board, rather \u2014 once again.<\/p>\n
OpenAI today announced<\/a> that Altman will be rejoining the company\u2019s board of directors several months after losing his seat and being pushed out<\/a> as OpenAI\u2019s CEO.<\/p>\n Joining alongside him are three new members, former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Sue Desmond-Hellmann, ex-Sony Entertainment president Nicole Seligman and Instacart CEO Fidji Simo \u2014 bringing OpenAI\u2019s board to seven people.<\/p>\n The members of transitory board \u2014 the board formed after Altman\u2019s firing in November \u2014 won\u2019t be stepping down with the appointment of Desmond-Hellmann, Seligman and Simo. Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor (OpenAI\u2019s current board chair), Quora CEO Adam D\u2019Angelo and Larry Summers, the economist and former Harvard president, will remain in their roles on the board, as will Dee Templeton, a Microsoft-appointed board observer.<\/p>\n The appointment of the four new board members \u2014 and reappointment of Altman \u2014 comes after OpenAI received criticism for its board\u2019s all-male makeup and the nomination of Summers, who has a history of making unflattering remarks<\/a> about women. The Congressional Black Caucus flagged<\/a> the board\u2019s lack of diversity in a letter sent in January, noting the importance of the Black perspective in building tools to help mitigate AI bias.<\/p>\n OpenAI\u2019s expanded board is certainly diverse \u2014 at least in terms of their backgrounds.<\/p>\n Desmond-Hellmann, in addition to heading the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for six years, was previously chancellor of the University of California, San Francisco and before that president of product development at Genentech, where she helped develop gene-targeted cancer drugs. Desmond-Hellmann is an oncologist by training, board-certified in both internal medicine and medical oncology.<\/p>\n Seligman, an attorney and corporate director, received national attention for her representation of Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North during the Iran\u2013Contra hearings and President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial. Seligman was Sony\u2019s VC and general counsel before rising through the ranks to CEO of Sony Corporation and president of Sony Corporation of America.<\/p>\n As for Fidji Simo, before becoming CEO of Instacart, she was head of the Facebook app at Meta and the VP overseeing Meta\u2019s various video, games and monetization efforts. Simo also co-founded \u2014 and is currently president of \u2014 The Metrodora Foundation, a health clinic and research institute.<\/p>\n \u201cSue, Fidji and Nicole have experience in leading global organizations and navigating complex regulatory environments, including backgrounds in technology, nonprofit and board governance,\u201d OpenAI wrote in a blog post. \u201cThey will work closely with current board members Adam D\u2019Angelo, Larry Summers and Bret Taylor as well as Sam and OpenAI\u2019s senior management.\u201d<\/p>\n The board\u2019s expansion and Altman\u2019s reinstatement also follows an investigation by the law firm WilmerHale, retained by OpenAI, that concluded Altman\u2019s ouster was a \u201cconsequence of a breakdown in the relationship and loss of trust\u201d between Altman and the prior board \u2014 not out of \u201cconcerns regarding product safety or security, the pace of development, OpenAI\u2019s finances or its statement to investors, customers, or business partners.\u201d<\/p>\n OpenAI in a blog post<\/a> said that, during the probe, WilmerHale conducted dozens of interviews with the company\u2019s prior board, current executives, advisers and other witnesses and reviewed thousands of documents and other corporate actions. In the opinion of the firm, the prior board acted within its right to terminate Altman \u2014 but Altman\u2019s conduct didn\u2019t mandate removal.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have unanimously concluded that Sam and [OpenAI president Greg Brockman] are the right leaders for OpenAI,\u201d Taylor said in a statement. \u201cWe recognize the magnitude of our role in stewarding transformative technologies for the global good.\u201d<\/p>\n Not all at OpenAI would likely agree.<\/p>\n