Leaders | OpenChaos

The fallout from the weirdness at OpenAI

Sam Altman is set to return, but the episode holds some disturbing lessons

Sam Altman speaks to the media on February 7th 2023.
Photograph: AP

Five very weird days passed before it seemed that Sam Altman would stay at OpenAI after all. On November 17th the board of the maker of Chatgpt suddenly booted out its chief executive. On the 19th it looked as if Mr Altman would move to Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor. But employees at the startup rose up in revolt, with almost all of them, including one of the board’s original conspirators, threatening to leave were Mr Altman not reinstated. Between frantic meetings, the top brass tweeted heart emojis and fond messages to each other. By the 21st, things had come full circle.

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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “OpenChaos”

From the November 25th 2023 edition

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