After several twists and turns, the OpenAI Palace Battle drama finally came to an end. OpenAI posted on social platform X today, stating that the agreement has been reached in principle and Altman will return to OpenAI as CEO. OpenAI also stated that the new initial board members include Brett Taylor (Chairman), Larry Summers, and Adam DaAngelo, and details of the collaboration are still being developed.
Later, Altman also posted on social media stating, 'We're back' and 'I love OpenAI'. He stated that with the support of the new board of directors and Nadella, he looks forward to returning to OpenAI and establishing a strong partnership with Microsoft.
The plot has undergone multiple twists and turns, with the board ultimately losing out. Altman was suddenly expelled and fired as CEO by the OpenAI board last Friday. The past five days have been extremely exciting, with constant twists and turns. Just this Monday, the OpenAI board of directors announced that Altman would not be rehired, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also announced that Altman would join Microsoft to lead a new artificial intelligence research team.
However, after the announcement, the majority of OpenAI employees did not buy it, with over 700 out of 770 employees signing an open letter to the board demanding that the board resign and reinstate former Altman and former CEO Brockman, otherwise they would resign and join Microsoft. It is worth noting that this open letter even includes the signature of OpenAI Chief Scientist Sutzkwell, who is believed to be the mastermind behind Altman's expulsion from OpenAI.
On Monday evening, Sutzkwell responded on social media platforms, stating that he deeply regrets his participation in the board of directors and stated that he never intended to harm OpenAl and would make every effort to reunite the company. Altman forwarded and replied to three love emoticons, which were interpreted by outsiders as Sutzkwell's defection to Altman. Moreover, Altman also publicly criticized the board of directors on social media, stating that "without people, OpenAI will be nothing" and received a collective repost from a group of OpenAI employees.
In just two days, the plot reversed once again. However, it seems that this is a happy ending for everyone. After the official announcement of Altman's return by OpenAI, Microsoft CEO Nadella quickly forwarded Altman's tweet, stating that he had talked to Altman and Brockman and agreed that they would continue to play a key role together with the leadership team of the board. Previously expelled former OpenAI board member Brockman also tweeted, stating that "we will be stronger and more united than ever before. He even revealed that he would go back to writing code tonight, and his words were filled with excitement.
On Monday, Emmett Hill, who was hastily appointed as the second CEO of OpenAI, also posted that after 72 hours of intense work, he was deeply pleased with the result. He also said, "I am not sure what the right path is, it is the way to maximize safety and get stakeholders to act correctly, and I am happy to be part of the solution
The board of directors will be reorganized and the governance structure will be reformed. According to foreign media reports, the initial work of the board of directors this time is to review and appoint a new formal board of directors with a maximum of 9 members, and reset the governance of OpenAI. The new initial board members include Brett Taylor (Chairman), Larry Summers, and Adam DaAngelo.
According to public sources, Brett Taylor graduated from Stanford University with a master's degree in computer science and served as Facebook's Chief Technology Officer and Salesforce Co CEO. Larry Summers is a former Democratic Secretary of the Treasury and President of Harvard University, an American economist who won the John Bates Clark Medal and the Allen Waterman Award from the National Science Foundation in 1993. Adam DaAngelo is a former board member and former founder of the Q&A website Quora.
Market insiders have analyzed that although the results may seem like a "roundabout return to the original point," this personnel shock has exposed some fatal problems in OpenAI's equity structure and governance model, which will usher in reforms in the future.
In the initial board of directors announced by OpenAI this time, the only person retained on the original board was Adam Da'Angelo, indicating that he still left some representation and speaking power for the former board. The other two members of the original board, Tasha Macaulay and Helen Toner, have confirmed their departure.
As the most important investor in OpenAI, Microsoft was also very passive in the dismissal of Altman due to its previous lack of representation on the board, and was not informed in advance. In the past few days, Microsoft has been coordinating and mediating between Altman and the board of directors, hoping to reach a solution. It is reported that Microsoft is committed to promoting a seat on the newly formed board of directors.
It is worth noting that according to foreign media reports, when the OpenAI board announced on Monday that Altman would not be rehired, Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott posted on social media that all employees considering leaving OpenAI are welcome to join Microsoft and will provide positions that match their salary. Nadella also stated in a media interview that Microsoft will continue to cooperate with OpenAI, but the situation depends on whether OpenAI employees "stay at OpenAI" or "come to Microsoft", and he is open to both options.
According to foreign media reports, Microsoft also stated that it will provide a signing bonus of $10 million per employee who resigned from OpenAI following Altman, which will cost approximately $7 billion overall. This has been ridiculed by the outside world as "a new acquisition method" and "Microsoft becoming the biggest winner". After all, Microsoft's stock price also surged after the US stock market opened on Monday, with a market value of over $100 billion, while OpenAI's current valuation is about $90 billion.
However, with the return of Altman, the personnel turmoil of OpenAI this time has come to an end, and this "new acquisition method" has not occurred, and OpenAI's lengthy governance structure adjustment may soon begin.