"Sam Altman Returns to OpenAI Board Amidst Leadership Changes"

Altman, who was ousted as CEO of OpenAI a few months ago, will be returning to the board of directors, the business stated today.

The eight-person board of directors of OpenAI now includes three new members: Fidji Simo, a former president of Instacart, Nicole Seligman, and Sue Desmond-Hellmann, a former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

By virtue of their appointment, Desmond-Hellmann, Seligman, and Simo will remain on the board, replacing the members of the transitional board who were appointed after Altman's November dismissal. The following individuals will continue serving on the board: Bret Taylor, co-CEO of Salesforce and current head of OpenAI's board of directors; Adam D'Angelo, CEO of Quora; Larry Summers, economist and former president of Harvard University; and Dee Templeton, an observer chosen by Microsoft.

After receiving criticism for its all-male board and Summers' nomination—who has a history of making disparaging statements about women—OpenAI reappoints Altman and appoints four additional members. In a letter addressed in January, the Congressional Black Caucus brought attention to the board's lack of diversity. They emphasised the necessity of the Black viewpoint in developing solutions to address AI prejudice.

At least in terms of their backgrounds, the enlarged board of OpenAI is undeniably varied.

Before her six years at the helm of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Desmond-Hellmann served as chancellor of UC San Francisco and, before to that, as president of product development at Genentech, where she contributed to the creation of gene-targeted cancer medications. Desmond-Hellmann has dual certifications in internal medicine and medical oncology, showcasing her skills as an oncologist.

Attorney and business director Seligman gained widespread media recognition for her work representing President Clinton's impeachment trial and Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North in the Iran-Contra hearings. Seligman worked his way up the ranks of Sony, first as a venture capitalist and general counsel, and then as CEO and president of Sony Corporation of America.

Fidji Simo was the VP in charge of Meta's video, gaming, and monetization initiatives before becoming the CEO of Instacart. She was also the head of the Facebook app at Meta. Additionally, Simo is the current president and co-founder of the health clinic and research centre The Metrodora Foundation.

According to a blog post by OpenAI, "Sue, Fidji and Nicole have experience in leading global organisations and navigating complex regulatory environments." Their backgrounds include technology, charity, and board governance. "Along with Sam and OpenAI's upper management, they will collaborate closely with existing board members Adam D'Angelo, Larry Summers, and Bret Taylor."

The investigation by the law firm WilmerHale, which OpenAI hired, found that Altman's removal was due to a "breakdown in the relationship and loss of trust" with the previous board, rather than "concerns regarding product safety or security, the pace of development, OpenAI's finances or its statement to investors, customers, or business partners." This brought about the expansion of the board and Altman's reinstatement.

According to a blog post by OpenAI, WilmerHale interviewed several current and former executives, advisors, and board members as well as other witnesses, and analysed a mountain of papers and other business acts throughout the investigation. After reviewing Altman's actions, the business determined that the previous board had the authority to fire him, but that his behaviour did not justify termination.

By a unanimous vote, Taylor announced that OpenAI's president Greg Brockman and Sam were chosen as the organization's leaders. "We understand the gravity of our responsibility to protect game-changing technology for the benefit of all people on Earth."

Everyone at OpenAI probably doesn't think so.

According to reports published earlier this week in the New York Times, Altman was a deceptive leader who would say what his followers wanted to hear in order to get their support for his actions and to discredit them if they dared to question him. Earlier this year, before Altman was fired, OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati and former board member and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever addressed members of the previous board to voice their concerns, as reported by The Times.

Besides the board appointments that were announced today, OpenAI also announced new corporate governance guidelines. These guidelines include a stronger conflict of interest policy, a whistleblower hotline "to serve as an anonymous reporting resource for all OpenAI employees and contractors," and the establishment of additional board committees, such as a mission and strategy committee "focused on implementation and advancement of the core mission of OpenAI."

We will provide an update to this piece whenever we get a response from OpenAI about the revised policy on conflicts of interest and the mission and strategy committee.