Revealed: The men behind Sam Altman's return after OpenAI drama
By Team Asianet Newsable | First Published Dec 26, 2023, 4:58 PM ISTIt has been revealed that some of Silicon Valley's most influential CEOs helped Altman to join back. Emmett Shear, the interim CEO of OpenAI, and Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb, helped pave the way for Sam Altman's return. Here's how they helped Sam Altman.
ChatGPT maker OpenAI witnessed a harrowing time after it fired CEO Sam Altman last month. Five days of intense drama for the artificial intelligence industry preceded OpenAI's agreement to reassign CEO Sam Altman and appoint new board members, after nearly all of its employees threatened to quit over his ouster.
The episode brought to light significant conflicts among the artificial intelligence sector. According to the Wall Street Journal report, it has now been disclosed that a few of the most prominent CEOs in Silicon Valley assisted Altman in returning to the company.
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Sam Altman's comeback was made possible by Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky and OpenAI interim CEO Emmett Shear. Altman texted Chesky minutes after his departure was announced. He sent him a message reading, "So brutal." Chesky connected with him via video conference, and during their talk that day, Greg Brockman, the president and co-founder of the firm, asked them about the board's decision to fire him. Altman said that there might have been some complaints from the board members.
Recognising that it was not a criminal case, Chesky gave Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella a call. Altman was then advised by a small group of Silicon Valley executives including Ron Conway, an early investor in Google and Facebook, and the CEO of Airbnb, who also tried to bargain with the board by making phone calls.
Furthermore, after the board named Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear as the company's acting CEO, the bulk of OpenAI's employees threatened to resign. Another thing that worked well for Mr Altman was the fact that Shear was an ally and a mentor of Chesky.
In an attempt to rebuild confidence in the US start-up following a dramatic weekend, Shear had pledged at the time to appoint an impartial investigator to look into the sudden dismissal of Altman and restructure the management team over the following thirty days.
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