OpenAI reverses course, takes back Sam Altman as leader

The artificial intelligence startup behind text bot ChatGPT wrote on social media Tuesday night it had reached an agreement to take back co-founder Sam Altman as its CEO. The company, which is based in San Francisco, had fired Altman on Friday. OpenAI then faced massive backlash from its employees. Microsoft, an investor in OpenAI, rapidly hired Altman. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on Monday that he was open to Altman returning to OpenAI if its governance problems were solved. OpenAI will have a new board of directors for Altman’s return, it said Tuesday.

What has Altman said, and how is the industry reacting? Altman wrote on social media that with support from Microsoft and a new board at OpenAI, “I’m looking forward to returning.” AI expert Chris Winfield, publisher of the Understanding AI newsletter, said after Altman was fired that the industry moves quickly and that “the future of AI will never be boring.”

Dig deeper: Read Emma Freire’s report in WORLD Magazine on what Christian computer scientists say about AI.