OpenAI, the company behind AI phenomenon ChatGPT, said late Friday that its CEO Sam Altman is leaving the company. OpenAI's CTO Mira Murati has been appointed as the company's interim CEO while the board begins its search for a permanent replacement.
"Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities," OpenAI wrote in a blog post.
"The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI," it said.
Related: What is Sam Altman’s net worth? How does he make money?
OpenAI did not provide specifics on Altman's alleged lack of candor in communicating with the board. The company declined to comment further.
The company's board of directors said in a statement that it remains committed to achieving its mission: the creation of safe artificial general intelligence that benefits all of humanity.
The board expressed gratitude for Altman's contributions, but believes that "new leadership is necessary as we move forward."
Murati, the company's now-interim CEO, has been a member of OpenAI's leadership team for five years. The company said in the post that she "already leads the company’s research, product, and safety functions."
tweet of the year: https://t.co/GC6i9GtzPM
— Gary Marcus (@GaryMarcus) November 17, 2023
"Given her long tenure and close engagement with all aspects of the company, including her experience in AI governance and policy, the board believes she is uniquely qualified for the role and anticipates a seamless transition while it conducts a formal search for a permanent CEO," OpenAI wrote.
Related: Meet Sam Altman, the man behind OpenAI's revolutionary ChatGPT
Wall Street is 'shocked'
Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) -) — which has invested more than $10 billion in OpenAI — sank immediately following the announcement, dipping roughly 2% in less than 30 minutes. The stock fell further in after-hours trading.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, calling the move a "shocker," said that this will ultimately give Microsoft more control of the situation.
He noted that Altman was "key" to getting OpenAI where it is today, "but we see little concern going forward with him gone. A year ago different story."
Deepwater's Gene Munster was likewise "shocked" by the move.
"He just hosted a great DevDay, everybody loved it. More importantly, he has led the company to faster success than any other tech company," Munster wrote. "It doesn't feel that this decision is based on performance. There must be more to the story."
Never seen my phone blowing up like this before, every channel filled with messages like these. pic.twitter.com/nBqy2rCk9A
— Gary Marcus (@GaryMarcus) November 17, 2023
Munster's greatest concern is the impact this could have on Microsoft. The company's market cap, he said, has increased 52% since ChatGPT was released last year. And leadership change, he said, is a big deal.
"While I don't think this changes Microsoft's long-term opportunity in AI, the value of their investment in OpenAI (which they own 50% of) is worth less today than yesterday," Munster said.
Munster expects Murati to land the job of permanent CEO.
AI expert Gary Marcus also shared a tweet that, while unsubstantiated, would make Altman's departure even more alarming.
Related: The ethics of artificial intelligence: A path toward responsible AI
OpenAI and ChatGPT
When OpenAI was founded in 2015 — with Altman and Elon Musk on the board — it was done so as a nonprofit research lab. But in 2019, Musk left and the company restructured into a hybridized "capped profit" corporation.
The company's release of ChatGPT set off a frantic race among competitors to outdo the system, and regulators to figure out how best to approach the technology.
Altman has been a prominent voice for months in the sector, regularly citing the extinction-level threat that AGI poses. He has said that a "misaligned superintelligent AGI could cause grievous harm to the world."
Still, Altman consistently expressed his belief that the potential benefits of a benevolent system far outweigh any of these existential risks.
Many experts have taken issue with Altman's hype of these hypothetical threats, saying that the science of AI does not support this impression.
Such fears are a "ploy by some. It's an actual belief by others. And it's a cynical tactic by even more," Dr. Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a prominent AI researcher, told TheStreet in September.
"I believe that we should address the harms that we are seeing in the world right now that are very concrete," he said. "And I do not believe that these arguments about future risks are either credible or should be prioritized over what we're seeing right now. There's no science in X risk."
Contact Ian via email, ian.krietzberg@thearenagroup.net, or Signal: 732-804-1223.
Related: Why Sam Altman's own AI tech is making him nervous
Get investment guidance from trusted portfolio managers without the management fees. Sign up for Action Alerts PLUS now.
