A few months after Sam Altman said the infamous “no one person can be trusted here, the board can fire me and that’s important” about OpenAI, the board tried – and failed – to do the very thing Altman said to be “important”: fire him.
OpenAI explained in a November 2023 blog post that its board, after a thorough review, concluded that Altman was not transparent enough with it, and that hindered its ability to function well. OpenAI then removed Altman as CEO.
This caused pandemonium in Silicon Valley. Less than a week later, Altman was reinstated and a new board was put in place. An independent review of the happenings began.
The independent review of the events was carried out by US law firm WilmerHale. WilmerHale uncovered that Altman’s removal was not the product of a concern of an inability for the board to function well but as a result of a loss of trust between the previous board members and Altman.
WilmerHale added, that according to OpenAI’s policies, Altman’s conduct was not grounds for his removal.
Open AI announced three new board members: Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, Nicole Seligman, and Fidji Simo, as well as Altman’s return to the board.
Palisade Research Cybersecurity expert and executive director, Jeffrey Ladish referred to Altman as a “deeply untrustworthy individual, low in integrity and high in power-seeking.”
“I know people who have worked with him… He is extremely good at what he does. He is extremely good at politics,” Ladish said. “He schemes to outmaneuver people within his own companies and projects. This is not the kind of person who can be trusted to lead a project that will shape the entire world and the entire future.”
