Sam Altman To Return as OpenAI CEO

OpenAI said today it reached an agreement for Sam Altman to return as CEO days after his ouster, capping a marathon discussion about the future of the startup at the center of the artificial intelligence boom. In addition to Altman’s return, the company agreed in principle to partly reconstitute the board of directors that had dismissed him. Former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers will join Quora CEO and current director Adam D’Angelo, OpenAI said. Under an “agreement in principle,” Altman will serve under the supervision of a new board of directors.

“I love OpenAI, and everything I’ve done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together,” Altman wrote on the social media site X in response to the announcement. “When I decided to join Microsoft on Sunday evening, it was clear that was the best path for me and the team.” Microsoft chief Satya Nadella hired Altman after he was sacked.

With the “support” of the new OpenAI board and Nadella, Altman said, he looked forward to “returning to OpenAI, and building on our strong partnership with Microsoft.” Nadella said he was “encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board” and believed that the decision was the “first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance.”