According to information reports (paywall), OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will return to the company's board of directors along with three new directors. Reuters reports: Citing Altman's firing, which temporarily roiled the world's most prominent artificial intelligence company, the Information reported that the company had also concluded its investigation into Altman's firing in November. Employees, investors, and Microsoft, OpenAI's largest financial backer, expressed shock at Altman's firing, but the company backed off within days. The company also has three partners: Sue Desmond Hellman, former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Nicole Seligman, former president of Sony Entertainment, and Fiji Simo, CEO of Instacart. The information also said that the company will announce the appointment of new directors. “I'm glad it's all over,” Altman said.
“We are unanimously thrilled to support Sam and Greg. [Brockman]Brett Taylor, chairman of OpenAI and a former Salesforce executive, told reporters that the company has also adopted “a number of governance enhancements,” including a whistleblower hotline and a new mission and strategy committee on its board of directors. “The mission hasn't changed; it's more important than ever,” Taylor added.
An independent investigation by the law firm WilmerHale found that “the previous board acted within its broad discretion to remove Mr. Altman from office, but his actions did not warrant his removal.” . “At the time, the previous board believed its actions would alleviate internal control challenges and did not anticipate that its actions would destabilize the company,” the summary provided by OpenAI said. The previous board's decisions did not arise out of concerns about product safety.” “It was either about security, the pace of development, OpenAI's finances, investors, customers, business statements to his partners. Rather, it was a breakdown in the relationship and a loss of trust between the previous board and Mr. Altman. That was the result.”