Sam Altman was fired from the position of CEO of OpenAI by the board of the company citing his inability to candidly communicate with the board consistently. (AP)

OpenAI Parting Ways: Greg Brockman and Sam Altman Issue Joint Statement

Febin MathewNovember 18, 23 Artificial Intelligence

Sam Altman, one of the cofounders of OpenAI, was dismissed from his role as CEO today. Additionally, Greg Brockman, who served as the chairman of the board, was requested to resign. Consequently, Brockman also decided to step down from his position as president within the company. In response to these events, both former OpenAI employees have released a joint statement addressing the company’s actions.

The company cited Altman’s failure to be “consistently forthright in his communications with the board” as the reason for firing Altman. Although Brockman was asked to continue as president of OpenAI, he was removed from the board. The official statement also announced Mira Murat as the company’s interim CEO.

Greg Brockman and Sam Altman provide a joint statement

Brockman sent a message to X saying the following: Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the government did today.

First of all, thanks to all the amazing people we’ve worked with at OpenAI, our customers, investors, and everyone who’s reached out.

We are also still trying to figure out what happened. Here’s what we know:

– Last night, Sam received a text message from Ilja, where he asked to talk on Friday at noon. Sam joined the Google Meet and the entire board except Greg was there. Ilja told Sam that he was fired and that the news was coming very soon.

– At 12:19 Greg received a text message from Ilja, where he asked for an emergency call. At 12:23 Ilja sent the Google Meet link. Greg was told that he was removed from the board (but was vital to the company and would retain his role) and that Sam had been fired. Around the same time, OpenAI published a blog post.

– As far as we know, the management team found out about this soon after, except for Mira, who found out the night before.

The outpouring of support has been really nice; thanks, but don’t waste your time worrying. We’ll be fine. Bigger things coming soon.

Later, Altman also posted a message from his X account, saying, “I love you all. today was a strange experience in many ways. but one unexpected one is that it’s been like reading your own eulogy while you’re still alive. outpouring of love is amazing. one takeaway: go tell your friends how awesome you think they are.”