The fiasco continues at OpenAI, as 650 employees, out of the company’s 770 in total, demand the resignation of the board of directors and the return of Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. The future of the creator of ChatGPT is more up in the air than ever.
Nothing is going well at OpenAI, which is more than ever on the verge of implosion. In one weekend, the creator of ChatGPT went from being a hot company to a company in full self-destruction. Its board of directors decided to fire Sam Altman, its co-founder and CEO, without justification. In one weekend, from November 17 to 19, 2023, OpenAI had three CEOs (Sam Altman, Mira Murati, then Emmett Shear). The company made people believe for a few hours that it was going to rehabilitate Sam Altman, before abruptly changing its mind, despite requests from Microsoft and other investors. Since then, Sam Altman and part of his team announced that they were going to join Microsoft to continue their mission.
In the aftermath of this “coup d’état”, 650 employees https://twitter.com/karaswisher/status/1726599700961521762?s=20 to the OpenAI board of directors who proved that it was “incompetent”. They demand changes and threaten to resign, to join Microsoft and Sam Altman.
OpenAI is scuttling itself
650 signatories, this represents the majority of OpenAI employees (its payroll is estimated at 770 in November 2023). Others could follow in the coming hours, since not everyone is yet awake and aware of the initiative. A first version of this article spoke of 500 employees.
In their letter, OpenAI employees deplore the incompetence of the board of directors which, in addition to not having provided justification for the reasons for Sam Altman’s dismissal, wiped out months of work in one decision. Employees say they are proud to have propelled OpenAI to a strong position, but worry that all their accomplishments will be undone by a board that has chosen not to protect the company’s interests.
In the letter, ironically signed by Ilya Sutskever, who was among the voters who fired Sam Altman https://twitter.com/ilyasut/status/1726590052392956028, OpenAI’s 650 employees are blackmailing their management. They are demanding the resignation of the board of directors and the return of Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, as well as the arrival of new independent directors. If OpenAI doesn’t listen, they will all resign to join Microsoft.
The OpenAI employee letter in full
On Wired, you can read the letter in its entirety. We asked ChatGPT to translate it into French, if you would like to view it in full. This new twist in any case suggests that Sam Altman’s future has not yet been decided and that his arrival at Microsoft is far from definitive.
The letter :
“To the attention of the OpenAI Board of Directors,
OpenAI is the leading AI company in the world. We, the people at OpenAI, have developed the best models and pushed the boundaries of the field. Our work on AI security and governance shapes global standards. The products we have created are used by millions of people around the world. Until now, the company we work for and love has never been in a stronger position.
--The process by which you fired Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman from the board jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and our company. Your conduct has clearly shown that you lack the competence to oversee OpenAI.
When we all unexpectedly learned of your decision, the OpenAI management team acted quickly to stabilize the company. She listened carefully to your concerns and tried to cooperate with you in every way. Despite numerous requests for specific facts for your allegations, you have never provided written evidence. They also gradually realized that you were incapable of performing your duties and that you were negotiating in bad faith.
The leadership team suggested that the most stabilizing path forward – the one that would best serve our mission, our business, our stakeholders, our employees and the public – would be for you to resign and establish a board of directors. qualified administration that could lead the company towards stability.
Management has worked with you day and night to find a mutually acceptable outcome. Yet two days after your initial decision, you once again replaced interim CEO Mira Murati against the best interests of the company. You also informed the leadership team that allowing the company to be destroyed would be “mission-aligned.”
Your actions have clearly shown that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI. We cannot work for or with people who lack skill, judgment and care for our mission and our people. We, the undersigned, may choose to resign from OpenAI and join the new Microsoft subsidiary led by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. »
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