After nearly a week of uncertainty and turmoil, Sam Altman has finally returned as CEO of OpenAI. Things changed dramatically between being ousted as CEO of OpenAI and joining Microsoft to form a new AI division. So in this article, I’ve written a rough summary of everything that has happened since last week. We have listed all the main people involved in the development and their comments. With that in mind, let’s jump into a timeline of events at OpenAI’s offices. 
The fall and rise of Sam Altman
Note: The timestamps below are at IST. Pacific Standard Time (PST) is 13.5 hours behind India Standard Time (IST).
- 1:58 AM · November 18, 2023
This dramatic development began with OpenAI’s official blog announcing that Sam Altman had been fired and Mira Murati (OpenAI CTO) had been appointed interim CEO to lead OpenAI .
Board members who signed Altman’s termination include Adam D’Angelo (Quora CEO), Helen Toner (CSET AI Policy Research), Tasha McCauley (GeoSim CEO), and Ilya Satskeva (OpenAI Lead). researchers) were included.
Overall, the board stated that “(Mr. Sam) was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, which hindered the board’s ability to carry out its responsibilities.” The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI. “
Additionally, the OpenAI Board of Directors removed OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman from his position as Chairman of the Board, but he remains with the company.
- 3:16 AM · November 18, 2023
About an hour later, Sam Altman posted on X (formerly Twitter) saying goodbye to OpenAI, and all hell broke loose. Mr. Altman did not provide much information about what actually happened behind the scenes. I loved the time I spent at openai. It was a little transformative for me personally and, hopefully, for the world. Most of all, I loved working with such talented people. I’ll tell you more about what happens next later. — Sam Altman (@sama) November 17, 2023
- 5:39 AM · November 18, 2023
A few hours later, Greg Brockman wrote down his thoughts on the OpenAI board’s decision regarding X, saying he was “quitting” in solidarity with Altman. This is the message I sent to the OpenAI team after learning today’s news: https://t.co/NMnG16yFmm pic.twitter.com/8x39P0ejOM
- 10:12 AM · November 18, 2023
While everyone was trying to make sense of the situation, Greg Brockman chimed in and tweeted the details behind the development. Apparently, Sam, along with the other directors except Greg, were informed by Ilya Sutskeva via a Google Meet call that he was being fired from OpenAI.
Shortly after, Mr. Gregg was also told by Mr. Sutskever that he would be removed from the board but would remain with the company. Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board has done today. First, let’s thank all the great people we’ve worked with at OpenAI, our customers, investors, and everyone who has reached out. We’re still trying to figure it out exactly — Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023
Interim CEO Mira Murati learned of her new role on the eve of a chaotic day. Management was informed around the same time after Sam’s ouster. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who owns 49% of OpenAI and has invested billions of dollars in the startup, was blindsided by the board’s decision, Bloomberg reported . It is said that it became .
- 4:55 AM · November 18, 2023
Satya Nadella immediately contacted X (formerly Twitter) to assuage the sentiments of investors and customers, posting: roadmap; and our partnership, and we remain committed to Mila and the team. ”
As you saw this week at Microsoft Ignite, we continue to rapidly innovate for this era of AI, with over 100 innovations across the entire technology stack, from AI systems, models, and tools in Azure to Copilot. We are making more announcements. Most importantly, we are committed to bringing all of this to us. — Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 17, 2023
There was no mention of Sam Altman or Greg Brockman in the tweet.
- 10:28 AM · November 20, 2023
Amid the turmoil, The Information reported that Twitch co-founder and former CEO Emmett Shear has been replaced as OpenAI’s interim CEO, replacing Mira Murati. Emmet Shea published the news on his X account. He accepted the offer and said he plans to reform the management and leadership. Today I received a call inviting me to consider a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become Interim CEO of @OpenAI . After consulting with my family and thinking about it for just a few hours, I decided to accept it. I recently stepped down from my role as CEO of Twitch to have a baby. — Emmett Shear (@eshear) November 20, 2023
- 1:23 PM · November 20, 2023
Finally, a few hours later, Satya Nadella made a surprising announcement on X: Research team. ”
We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and confident in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate on everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and the continued support of our customers and partners. Looking forward to getting to know Emmett — Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023
Everyone, including industry veterans, praised Satir for hiring Sam and Greg to oversee a new AI division within Microsoft.
- 3:36 PM · November 20, 2023
Within an hour, Mira Murati posted on X, ” OpenAI is nothing without people, ” garnering support from all quarters. Prominent employees at OpenAI started tweeting the same post, showing that many on the OpenAI team supported Sam Altman. OpenAI is nothing without its people — Mira Murati (@mira Murati) November 20, 2023 OpenAI cannot exist without people OpenAI is nothing without our people — Angela Jiang (@jiangelaa) November 20, 2023
- 6:45 PM · November 20, 2023
By the evening, Ilya Satskeva, OpenAI’s chief scientist and a member of the board of directors who took part in the board’s decision to oust Sam Altman, had completely changed his tune . “I deeply regret participating in the board’s actions,” Ilya said on Twitter. “I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we have built together and am looking forward to starting the company again.” We will do everything we can to integrate. ” I deeply regret participating in the Board’s actions. I had no intention of harming OpenAI. I love everything we’ve built together. We will do everything we can to reintegrate the company . — Ilya Sutskever (@ilyasut) November 20, 2023
Everyone wondered what had caused Ilya to change his attitude. However, the Wall Street Journal reported that Greg Brockman’s wife, Anna Brockman, tearfully begged Elijah to change his mind.
- 7:18 PM · November 20, 2023
Shortly after, nearly all of OpenAI’s employees rebelled against the board’s decision and told everyone to resign. And amazingly, Ilya Sutskever signed this letter along with over 700 other OpenAI staff. The letter demanded that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman be reinstated, or the entire workforce would be transferred to Microsoft immediately. This letter threatened the board with the following words:
“Your actions have revealed that you are incompetent to supervise OpenAl. I can’t work.
We, the undersigned, may choose to resign from OpenAI and join the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary run by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman.
Microsoft assured us that if we chose to join, there would be positions open to all OpenAl employees in this new subsidiary. All current board members resign, the board appoints two new lead independent directors, Brett Taylor and Will Hurd, and does not bring back Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. As far as possible, we intend to take this action immediately. ”
- 10:50 AM · November 21, 2023
The board was now in a bind. Deliberations began between Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Mira Murati, Jason Kwon, Brad Lightcap, Emmett Shea, Adam D’Angelo, and other key members.
Meanwhile, a report from The Verge suggested that even though Satya Nadella announced that Sam and Greg would be joining Microsoft, he is not sure if the decision will materialize.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Sathya was asked if they were currently Microsoft employees, and he said, “So they’re all in the process of joining.” In a separate interview with CNBC, Satya asserted, ” Regardless of configuration, [we are] fully committed to OpenAI and Sam .” He also called for more stability, saying: ” We would definitely like to see some changes in governance. The idea that change is going to happen without being in the loop is not a good idea .” We are more united, committed and focused than ever before. We’re all going to collaborate in some way and we’re all very excited. One team, one mission. — Sam Altman (@sama) November 20, 2023
Another report by The Verge makes it abundantly clear that Sam Altman is still looking to return as OpenAI CEO. Sam Altman tweeted. “ We are more united, dedicated and focused than ever before, and I am so excited because we will all be working together in some way. One Team, One Mission .
- 11:33 AM · November 22, 2023
On November 22nd, this chaotic drama finally came to an end. OpenAI has officially announced. “ We have reached an agreement in principle to have Sam Altman return to OpenAI as CEO and form a new initial board of directors consisting of Brett Taylor (chairman), Larry Summers, and Adam DeAngelo.” Details We are working together to understand. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. ” We have reached an agreement in principle that Sam Altman will return to OpenAI as CEO, with Bret Taylor (chairman), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo as new initial members, and we will work together to finalize the details. That’s what I’m doing. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Sam Altman returns as CEO of OpenAI along with Greg Brockman. and Helen Toner, Tasha McCauley and Ilya Satskeva were removed from the board. According to some reports , a new nine-member board will later be formed, with Sam Altman and Satya Nadella likely to join the expanded board. I love openai, and everything I’ve done over the past few days has helped sustain this team and its mission. When I decided to join MSFT on a Sunday evening, it was clear that it was the best path for me and my team. With the support of the new board and Satya, I — Sam Altman (@sama) November 22, 2023
At the same time, Satya Nadella shared a post on X, highlighting the building of a strong partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI, along with stable and effective governance.
- 1:11 PM · November 22, 2023
Almost an hour later, Greg Brockman shared a photo with OpenAI employees, and the company’s account retweeted the photo with the caption, “OpenAI is nothing without our employees.”
OpenAI is nothing without our people https://t.co/XYKLQ61e6l — OpenAI (@OpenAI) November 22, 2023
- 2:13 PM · November 22, 2023
A recent report in the New York Times sheds light on the circumstances surrounding Sam Altman’s ouster. Among the many tensions was a research paper written by Helen Toner, one of the board members who earlier fired Sam Altman.
The paper criticized OpenAI’s safety approach and praised one of OpenAI’s biggest competitors, Anthropic, which has developed an AI chatbot called Claude. Altman was concerned about damage to OpenAI’s reputation when the FTC was investigating it over training data.
Other issues related to vacancies for retired directors. Board members could not reach a consensus on who would fill the vacancies in key roles . Ilya, on the other hand, felt that Altman was not honest and focused too much on expansion rather than balancing progress with AI safety.
That’s all about what happened last week at OpenAI. A company that had been touted as one of the most important ventures in recent history was suddenly embroiled in conflict and turmoil. In the coming days, we will learn more about the events that led to this uncertain mess. Until then, please look forward to it!
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