Three senior OpenAI researchers resign after CEO Sam Altman ousted

Three senior OpenAI researchers — Jakub Pachocki, Aleksander Madry and Szymon Sidor — told associated they had resigned, Reuters reported on Friday. This further deepened the crisis at the company behind ChatGPT. The information came after the board of the the artificial intelligence company ousted its co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sam Altman earlier in the day.

In a tweet posted shortly after the new breakout, Altman described the day as a 'weird experience' and likened it to 'reading your own eulogy while you’re still alive.'

"I love you all. Today was a weird experience in many ways. but one unexpected one is that it has been sorta like reading your own eulogy while you’re still alive. The outpouring of love is awesome. One takeaway: go tell your friends how great you think they are," the former CEO tweeted.

"if i start going off, the openai board should go after me for the full value of my shares," he said in another tweet.

OpenAI's chief technology officer Mira Murati will serve as interim CEO, the company said, adding that it will conduct a formal search for a permanent CEO.

Meanwhile, Greg Brockman, OpenAI president and co-founder stepped down from the board as chairman as part of the management shuffle. He announced on messaging platform X late on Friday: "Based on today's news, i quit."

The departures blindsided many employees who discovered the abrupt management change from an internal message and the company's public facing blog.

Brockman said it came as a surprise to Altman and him as well. They had learned the board's decision within minutes of the announcement.

ALSO READ: Who is on the OpenAI Board that fired Sam Altman? Take a look

In another X post on Friday night, Brockman said Altman was asked to join a video meeting at noon Friday with the company’s board members, minus Brockman, during which OpenAI co-founder and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever informed Altman he was being fired.

"We too are still trying to figure out exactly what happened," he posted on X, formerly Twitter, adding, "We will be fine. Greater things coming soon."

The organization did not immediately answer a request for comment on Brockman's claims, Reuters said.

ALSO READ: Mira Murati: Meet the 35-year-old CTO of OpenAI, that created ChatGPT

Why was Sam Altman fired?

The decision to fire Altman was taken after a review found he was “not consistently candid in his communications” with the board of directors. “The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI,” the artificial intelligence company said in a statement on Friday.

Bloomberg reported that OpenAI ousted Sam Altman and lost another senior executive after a series of escalating disagreements over fundamental questions at the heart of artificial intelligence: How to keep the technology safe while also making money from it.

The report cited sources as saying that Altman clashed with members of his board, especially Ilya Sutskever, an OpenAI co-founder and the company’s chief scientist, over how quickly to develop what’s known as generative AI, how to commercialize products and the steps needed to lessen their potential harms to the public.

About OpenAI

Backed by billions of dollars from Microsoft, OpenAI kicked off the generative AI craze last November by releasing ChatGPT. The chatbot became one of the world's fastest-growing software applications.

Trained on reams of data, generative AI can create human-like content, helping users spin up term papers, complete science homework and even write entire novels. After ChatGPT's launch, regulators scrambled to catch up: the European Union revised its AI Act and the US kicked off AI regulation efforts.

(With inputs from agencies)