WASHINGTON: The shock firing of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, a central figure in the AI revolution, on Friday caught the tech world by surprise, with rumours rife on social media as to the cause of the sudden sacking.

Altman became a tech world sensation with the release nearly a year ago of ChatGPT, an AI chatbot with unprecedented capabilities, churning out human-level content like poems or artwork in just seconds.

A statement about the firing by OpenAI referred to its stated mission of making sure AI benefits everyone, and said that new leadership is needed for the company to move forward.

Altman will be replaced on an interim basis by Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, the statement said.

Board removes CEO for ‘not being candid in communications’

Fellow OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman was pushed from the company’s board in the shakeup and put out late in the day that he quit.

“I’m super proud of what we’ve built… but based on today’s news, I quit,” Brockman said in a post at X, formerly Twitter.

“I continue to believe in the mission of creating safe AGI [artificial general intelligence] that benefits all of humanity.”

Analysts scrambled to interpret the shakeup, and the sacking of 38-year-old Altman, a Stanford University dropout, entrepreneur and computer coder.

“It sounded as though there were some ethical concerns which pushed the board to do something,” said Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi.

“If he is being ousted because of ethical concerns, that is only going to be good for the company.”

OpenAI’s board said that Altman’s departure followed a thorough review that found “he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.”

“The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI,” it concluded.

In a post on X, Altman said he “loved my time at OpenAI.” “It was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit.”

He promised “more to say about what’s next later.” The launch of ChatGPT ignited a race in AI — hailed as the next big chapter in technology — with contenders including tech giants Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta.

Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and has woven the company’s technology into its offerings, including search engine Bing.

Altman has testified before US Congress about AI and spoken with heads of state about the technology, as pressure ramps up to regulate against risks such as AI’s potential use in bioweapons, misinformation and other threats.

Microsoft has a long-term agreement with OpenAI and remains “committed to our partnership, and to Mira and the team,” chief executive Satya Nadella said in a post.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2023