OpenAI chief Sam Altman was fired on Friday, with the company’s management criticizing him for not always being “honest” with them. CTO Mira Murati has been appointed to act in the interim following the departure of the person who presided over the launch of generative AI platform ChatGPT a year ago.
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The page is turning for this Silicon Valley star. Sam Altman has been fired effective immediately from his position as head of OpenAI, the company that launched the generative artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT a year ago. The board criticizes him for not always being “honest” with him.
“Sam Altman’s departure follows an advisory review process by the board of directors, which concluded that he was not always candid in his communications with the board, which hindered his ability to fulfill his duties,” OpenAI’s board of directors announced on Friday 17. It emphasizes that the body no longer has ” confidence in their ability to manage OpenAI”.
Mira Murati, CTO of OpenAI, has been named interim director following the departure of Sam Altman while he awaits the ongoing process of finding a permanent successor to succeed him. He has been with the company for five years.
“OpenAI was intentionally structured to advance our mission: to ensure that artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. The board remains fully committed to serving that mission,” he said.
“We are grateful for Sam’s many contributions to the creation and growth of OpenAI. At the same time, we believe that new governance is necessary to move forward,” he continued.
Resignation of co-founder Greg Brockman
Sam Altman, 38, responded on X Network (formerly Twitter): “I loved my time at OpenAI. It was transformative for me on a personal level, but also, hopefully, for the world.”
In response to this appeal, Chairman Greg Brockman – the company’s co-founder – announced his resignation today.
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Founded in late 2015, OpenAI has been able to count on financial support from prestigious contributors, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, investor Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, from the very beginning.
The company is funded by Microsoft, which has invested several billion dollars in it, and which has integrated the technology into its own products, such as the Bing search engine.
In a statement, the IT giant responded to the news of the executive’s departure: “We have a long-standing partnership with OpenAI, and Microsoft remains committed to Mira and the teams as we bring a new era of ‘artificial intelligence to users.’
Microsoft expands control options
“Altman fired as head of OpenAI, shock, but ultimately Microsoft will simply have more control over the situation given its stake” in the company’s capital, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
“He was instrumental in guiding the platform to where it is, but the fact that he is no longer there raises a little concern for the future,” he added. “It would have been different a year ago.
Despite their success, ChatGPT and other interfaces of this type also raise serious concerns about the dangers to democracy (massive disinformation) or employment (substitute professions), in particular.
Read alsoDiscrimination, manipulation, job destruction… The biggest risks associated with AI
Sam Altman has spoken on this topic several times, including before the United States Congress, and has spoken to heads of state about this technology and the concerns it raises.
With AFP