OPENAI HAS 'FULL CONFIDENCE' IN CEO SAM ALTMAN AFTER INVESTIGATION, REINSTATES HIM TO BOARD

OpenAI is reinstating CEO Sam Altman to its board of directors and said it has “full confidence” in his leadership after the conclusion of an outside investigation into the company’s turmoil.

The ChatGPT maker tapped the law firm WilmerHale to look into what led the company to abruptly fire Altman in November, only to rehire him days later. After months of investigation, it found that Altman’s ouster was a “consequence of a breakdown in the relationship and loss of trust” between him and the prior board, OpenAI said in a summary of the findings. It did not release the full report.

OpenAI also announced it has added three women to its board of directors: Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellman, a former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Nicole Seligman, a former Sony general counsel; and Instacart CEO Fidji Simo.

The actions are a way for the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company to show investors and customers that it is trying to move past the internal conflicts that nearly destroyed it last year and made global headlines.

“I’m pleased this whole thing is over,” Altman told reporters, adding that he’s been disheartened to see “people with an agenda” leaking information to try to harm the company or its mission and “pit us against each other.” At the same time, he said he’s learned from the experience and apologized for a dispute with a former board member he could have handled “with more grace and care.”

In a parting shot, two board members who voted to fire Altman before getting pushed out themselves wished the new board well but said accountability is paramount when building technology “as potentially world-changing” as what OpenAI is pursuing.

“We hope the new board does its job in governing OpenAI and holding it accountable to the mission,” said a joint statement from ex-board members Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley. “As we told the investigators, deception, manipulation, and resistance to thorough oversight should be unacceptable.”