At Thursday’s all-hands meeting, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman denied there were any plans to take a “significant stake” in the company, according to an attendee, and said the information was “absolutely untrue.” No,” he said.
In a video meeting, Altman and Finance Director Sarah Friar said investors were concerned that Altman no longer owns a stake in the highly regarded artificial intelligence company he co-founded nearly nine years ago. Both men said that their voices were rising, said the person who asked the question. Names were not disclosed because the gathering was for employees only.
Regarding the possibility of stock acquisition, Mr. Altman said, “There are no plans at this time.”
OpenAI Chairman Brett Taylor told CNBC in a statement that the board is discussing the matter, but no specific numbers have been considered.
“While the board has discussed whether compensating Sam in stock would be beneficial to the company and our mission, specific numbers have not been discussed and no decisions have been made,” Taylor said. ” he said.
The meeting late Thursday followed the board’s decision to consider restructuring the company into a for-profit business, according to another person familiar with the matter. If the changes are made, the nonprofit sector would remain a separate entity, said the person, who requested anonymity because plans have not been finalized.
While board members consider OpenAI’s future, key executives remain at the door.
On Wednesday, three executives announced their retirement. OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati briefly served as interim CEO, but said she would step down after six and a half years. Later that day, head of research Bob McGrew and vice president of research Barrett Zoff announced they were leaving the company.
In an interview at Italian Tech Week on Thursday, Altman said, “I hope this is a great transition for everyone involved, and as we do with all transitions, OpenAI is committed to it. I hope it becomes even stronger.”
Altman said that contrary to some media reports, his departure is not related to a potential restructuring of the company.
“Most of what I saw was completely wrong,” Altman said at an event in Turin, Italy. “But we’ve been thinking about it. Our board has been thinking about it for almost a year, thinking on its own about what we need to do to move to the next step. But I think this is just people preparing for a new chapter in their lives: a new generation of leadership.
Murati I wrote In a memo to the company, she said, “I am leaving because I want to create time and space to explore myself.” He said his focus would be on ensuring a “smooth transition”.
Prior to Thursday’s move, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Satskeva and former safety leader Jan Reike announced their retirement in May. Co-founder John Schulman announced last month that he was leaving to join rival Anthropic.
Support OpenAI microsoftis currently in the midst of a funding round that values the company at more than $150 billion, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. Thrive Capital led the round with a planned $1 billion investment, with Tiger Global also expected to participate.
OpenAI has been in hyper-growth mode since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022, but it has also been plagued by controversy and executive departures, with some current and former employees believing the company was growing too fast to operate safely. I’m worried that I won’t be able to do it.
Altman was fired in November but quickly reinstated. Nearly all of OpenAI’s employees signed an open letter announcing their resignation in response to the board’s action. A few days later, Mr. Altman returned to the company and Mr. Murati returned to his role from interim CEO to CTO.
clock: Scrutiny against Altman
