In a surprising turn of events, OpenAI, one of the leading artificial intelligence companies, has announced the appointment of former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear as its new leader. This move comes just two days after the unexpected removal of Sam Altman, who had been at the helm since 2019.
The decision to bring in Shear follows a tumultuous weekend for OpenAI, marked by the sudden removal of Altman, as revealed in a statement from the board on Friday. The statement cited Altman’s lack of consistent candor in communications with the board as the reason for his departure. The interim replacement for Altman is Mira Murati, OpenAI’s technology chief.
Both The Information and Bloomberg reported on Shear’s hiring before it was officially confirmed by CNBC through a confidential source. Despite requests for comment, an OpenAI spokesperson has not responded as of now.
Following the board’s announcement, a group of notable investors, including Microsoft, Tiger Global, Thrive Capital, and Sequoia Capital, initiated efforts to reverse the decision. Notably, these firms, although influential, do not hold board seats and were reportedly caught off guard by Altman’s removal.
Sam Altman, in a post on the platform X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday night, expressed his affection for the OpenAI team, stating, “i love the openai team so much.” This sentiment was reciprocated by Mira Murati and other OpenAI employees, indicating a supportive internal atmosphere despite the recent changes.
OpenAI gained widespread recognition this year with the release of ChatGPT, a chatbot that allows users to engage in conversations by inputting simple text queries. The company was reportedly in talks last month to sell employee shares at an impressive $86 billion valuation.
Notably, OpenAI diverges from the typical Silicon Valley startup structure, as it operates as a nonprofit founded in 2015. The board oversees the nonprofit, playing a crucial role in governing all OpenAI activities, as emphasized in Friday’s blog post.
Emmett Shear, the incoming leader, stepped down as the CEO of Twitch in March, a livestreaming service now under the ownership of Amazon. Shear, a co-founder of Justin.tv, a precursor to Twitch, has also been involved as a part-time partner at Y Combinator, a startup accelerator previously led by Sam Altman before his tenure at OpenAI.
