More than three months after OpenAI’s board of directors briefly ousted Sam Altman, the high-profile artificial intelligence company’s chief executive, questions remain about exactly what led the board to take such a dramatic step.
A report from an outside law firm, expected in the coming days, could shed more light on the board’s decision as well as the tumultuous five days before Mr. Altman in the company.
But as hopes grow for the report, previously unreported details are emerging about the role that Mira Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer, played in Mr. Altman.
Ms. wrote Purati a private memo to Mr. Altman asking questions about his management and also shared his concerns with the board. That move helped advance the board’s decision to force him out, according to people with knowledge of the board’s discussions who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of a personnel issue.
At the same time, Ilya Sutskever, a co-founder and chief scientist of OpenAI, expressed similar concerns, citing what he characterized as a history of manipulative behavior by Mr. Altman, people say. Both executives described a hot-and-cold relationship with Mr. Altman. Although it was unclear if they offered specific examples, the executives said he sometimes created a toxic work environment by freezing out executives who did not support his decisions, the people said.
The interactions of Ms. Murati on the board offers insight into problems rife at OpenAI’s senior levels, though both executives have publicly supported Mr. Altman in the company.
WilmerHale, the law firm conducting the investigation, is expected to conclude the process in the near future. The company is expected to announce a new board of directors at the same time, some of the people said. Several directors left the board after Mr. Altman returned to the company in November.
Hannah Wong, a spokeswoman for OpenAI, said in a statement that the company’s senior leadership team, led by Ms. Murati during his time as interim chief executive, unanimously demanded Mr. Altman’s return, as did an open letter signed by 95 percent of OpenAI Employees.
“The strong support from his team underscores that he is an effective CEO who is open to different perspectives, willing to solve complex challenges, and shows care for his team,” said Ms. Wong. “We expect findings from independent review as opposed to unsubstantiated claims.”
Mr. declined to comment. Altman. Mr. Sutskever’s lawyer, Alex Weingarten, said claims that he approached the board were “definitely false.”
Ms. Murati did not respond to a request for comment. But in a message to OpenAI employees after this article was published, he said that he and Mr. Altman “has a strong and productive partnership and I’m not shy about sharing feedback directly with him.”
He added that “when individual board members contacted me directly for feedback about Sam, I provided it – all feedback was already known to Sam,” and that did not mean he was “responsible or supports the actions of the old board.”
(The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft in December for copyright infringement of news content related to AI systems.)
Since November, OpenAI and its investors have struggled to contain the fallout from the incident, which threatened to take down one of the tech industry’s most important start-ups. OpenAI was valued at more than $80 billion in its last financing round.
Most of the remaining 700-plus employees at OpenAI – many of whom threatened to quit when Mr. Altman was fired – hoping to put the events of November behind them. (Some employees refer to that period as “The Blip.”)
But there are others who hope that the WilmerHale investigation will provide a thorough examination of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Altman’s firing. It is unclear whether the full report or a summary of it will be made public.
At the time of Mr. Altman’s firing, OpenAI’s six-person board included Drs. Sutskever; Helen Toner, an AI researcher working at a Georgetown University think tank; Adam D’Angelo, a former Facebook executive; Greg Brockman, a co-founder and president of the company; Tasha McCauley, an adjunct senior management scientist at the RAND Corporation; and Mr. Altman.
As a condition of Mr. Altman’s reinstatement, executives agreed to shake up OpenAI’s board to include a more diverse and independent set of directors. OpenAI’s six-person board has been whittled down to an interim board of three: Bret Taylor, a former Salesforce and Facebook executive, has joined as a board chairman helping appoint a new set of directors. Lawrence H. Summers, the former Treasury Secretary, also joined. Mr. D’Angelo remains on the board.
In October, Ms. Some board members are reluctant and have expressed concerns about Mr. Altman’s leadership, the people said.
He described what some consider to be the playbook of Mr. Altman, which involves manipulating executives to get what he wants. First, said Ms. Murati said Mr. Altman would tell people what they wanted to hear to get them to support his decisions. If they don’t go along with his plans or if it takes too long for them to come to a decision, he will try to destroy the credibility of those who challenge him, the people said.
said Ms. Murati told the board that he previously sent a private memo to Mr. Altman outlined some of his concerns about his behavior and shared some details of the memo with the board, the people said.
At about the same time in October, Dr. Sutskever board members and expressed similar issues about Mr. Altman, people say.
Some board members are concerned that Ms. Murati and Dr. Sutskever will leave the company if the behavior of Mr. Altman was not addressed. They also worried that the company would see an exodus of talent if top lieutenants left.
There were other factors that went into the decision. Some members are concerned about the creation of OpenAI Startup Fund, a venture fund started by Mr. Altman. Unlike a typical corporate investment fund, which is a legal extension of the corporation, Mr. Altman holds legal ownership for the OpenAI fund and raised money from outside limited partners. OpenAI said the structure was temporary, and that Mr. Altman will not receive financial benefit from it.
The OpenAI fund used that money to invest in other artificial intelligence start-ups. Some board members were concerned that Mr. Altman used the funds to remove accountability from OpenAI’s nonprofit management structure. They faced Mr. Altman about his legal ownership and operational control over the fund last year.
Axios used to be reported on Mr. Altman’s control of the OpenAI fund.
The board members began discussing their next steps after being approached by Ms. Murati and Dr. Sutskever. In mid-November, the board planned to name Ms. Murati as interim chief executive while a search for a new CEO is conducted, the people said. The board expelled Mr. Altman on Nov. 17.
In the days that followed, Mr. Altman fought publicly to regain his position, using a mixture of public pressure and powerful allies in Silicon Valley to push for his reinstatement. Most of OpenAI’s 770 employees have threatened to resign if he is not reinstalled as chief executive. Ms. said quickly. Murati and Dr. Sutskever — and publicly — that they supported Mr. Altman’s return to the company. Dr. Sutskever has not yet returned to his regular duties at the company, several of the people said.
After five days of public back-and-forth, Mr. Altman returned to his job.
