United States: OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, will return to the firm’s board of directors after a brief inquiry into his dismissal and subsequent reinstatement.
According to a statement in a blog post by OpenAI, an investigation by law firm WilmerHale found that Altman’s conduct over the past year ‘did not mandate his removal.’ The company stated that Altman’s dismissal occurred due to a “breakdown in the relationship and loss of trust” between the entrepreneur and the former board.
After reviewing the law firm’s findings, OpenAI expressed full confidence in Altman’s ongoing leadership of the artificial intelligence startup. The company commented in a summary of the report that, “WilmerHale found that the prior Board acted within its broad discretion to terminate Mr. Altman, but also found that his conduct did not mandate removal.”
OpenAI remarked that Altman will be joined by three new board members, including Nicole Seligman, former CEO of Sony Entertainment, Fidji Simo, CEO of Instacart, and Sue Desmond-Hellman, former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The ChatGPT maker additionally said that it would make significant advancements to its management structure, including embracing new corporate governance policies and making a whistleblower hotline.
The statement caps the surprise uproar that saw Altman ousted as CEO in November amid allegations that the panel had failed to ‘be consistently honest in its communications.’ Although Altman was reinstated as CEO two weeks after his ouster, he was not reinstated to the board at that time.
Altman noted in a post on X, that, “When I believed a former board member was harming OpenAI through some of their actions, I should have handled that situation with more grace and care. I apologise for this, and I wish I had done it differently. I assume a genuine belief in the crucial importance of getting artificial general intelligence right from everyone involved.”
Former board members Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley, who voted to oust Altman before his dismissal, wished OpenAI and the new board the best of luck while emphasising the demand for responsibility when dealing with ‘potentially world-changing’ technology.
In a joint statement, Toner and McCauley noted at X, that, “We hope the new board does its job in governing OpenAI and holding it accountable to the mission. As we told the investigators, deception, manipulation, and resistance to thorough oversight should be unacceptable.”
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