The Unraveling of Sam Altman’s Career at OpenAI: A Timeline and Its Consequences

Sam Altman, former president of Y Combinator, was dramatically fired as CEO of OpenAI, an AI startup, late Friday by the company’s board of directors. Consequently, the company’s president and co-founder, Greg Brockman, resigned, as did three senior OpenAI researchers. The situation is still unfolding, and people familiar with Sam Altman’s departure are encouraged to reach out to TechCrunch. As OpenAI’s board negotiates Altman’s potential return, they are facing some recent developments and board tensions that have led to the current predicament. On November 20, Altman announced that he, along with colleagues, would join Microsoft to lead a new AI research team. Meanwhile, the future of OpenAI’s funding and planned employee shares sale, as well as the possibility of a merger with another company, are uncertain. Ultimately, the board faces challenges in deciding on a new CEO and reversing course to reinstate Altman. The company is still trying to resolve the situation, and more updates are expected to come.