OpenAI officially brings back Sam Altman as CEO, Microsoft joins the board

After an intense few days of drama following OpenAI’s board firing CEO Sam Altman, things have settled down with Altman back as CEO, a new board in place, and Microsoft getting a spot on the board as well.

To quickly summarize the series of events around OpenAI and Sam Altman, it all started on November 17 when the OpenAI board abruptly announced the firing of Altman. In the days to follow, nearly all of the company’s employees stood behind Altman and threatened to leave, while Microsoft struck a tentative deal that would have seen Altman and other key OpenAI names leading an AI division within the company. But, shortly after that was announced, OpenAI brought Altman back.

As of today, Sam Altman’s return as OpenAI CEO is fully official. The announcement was made on OpenAI’s website, with a letter from Altman to employees saying:

I have never been more excited about the future. I am extremely grateful for everyone’s hard work in an unclear and unprecedented situation, and I believe our resilience and spirit set us apart in the industry. I feel so, so good about our probability of success for achieving our mission.

Also clarified in the letter is that Ilya Sutskever, a former board member who played a role in firing Altman, is no longer serving on the board but is discussing a continued role at OpenAI.

OpenAI’s new board will consist of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo, as well as Microsoft in an observer role without a vote in board matters.