OpenAI on Friday announced that Sam Altman was no longer the CEO of the tech company that rose to popularity because of its innovative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, ChatGPT.
After the news broke out, Altman took to X, formerly known as Twitter, saying that he “loved” his time at OpenAI.
The sacking of the 38-year-old tech genius came as a surprise not only to the entire tech industry but also to his friends at the company including Greg Brockman who announced his resignation soon after the company’s announcement.
Brockman posted a screenshot of the text message that he sent to the company in which he stated: “Based on today’s news, I quit.”
Brockman later shared the details of how he and others were informed of Altman’s sacking the night before the announcement was officially made.
“Last night, Sam got a text from Ilya asking to talk at noon Friday. Sam joined a Google Meet and the whole board, except Greg, was there. Ilya told Sam he was being fired and that the news was going out very soon,” he wrote.
“At 12:19pm, Greg got a text from Ilya asking for a quick call. At 12:23pm, Ilya sent a Google Meet link. Greg was told that he was being removed from the board (but was vital to the company and would retain his role) and that Sam had been fired. Around the same time, OpenAI published a blog post.
“As far as we know, the management team was made aware of this shortly after, other than Mira who found out the night prior,” he added.
Brockman thanked his supporters, saying that they shouldn’t be concerned.