Sam Altman, who participated in a panel discussion at APEC alongside execs from Google and Meta, was ousted as OpenAI CEO by the leading artificial intelligence company’s board of directors, per a shocking Friday afternoon announcement.
- The statement: “Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”
Because the San Francisco-based startup — which is widely known for its revolutionary ChatGPT chatbot — wasn’t particularly “candid” itself in its announcement, speculation abounded in the tech industry over the true reason of Altman’s unceremonious departure and his future.
While there was some talk over the weekend to reinstate the co-founder as CEO, and employees signed a letter urging the board to resign, longtime OpenAI partner and investor Microsoft announced Sunday that it had secured Altman to lead an AI research team. In one of his responses to the news, Altman tweeted that “the mission continues.”
But Altman wasn’t the only tech leader looking for a new job. The CEO of Cruise, a San Francisco autonomous car company owned by General Motors, resigned Sunday, about a month after two California state agencies decided to suspend its services following an accident involving a Cruise robotaxi hitting a pedestrian in San Francisco.
In a thread on X (formerly Twitter), ex-CEO Kyle Vogt said he launched the startup in his garage. Over the course of 10 years, the company “has given over 250,000 driverless rides across several cities, with each ride inspiring people with a small taste of the future.” Vogt made no mention of Cruise’s suspension, the company’s subsequent voluntary recall of 950 of its vehicles or the federal investigation into the company.
And other tech execs could be in the hot seat before Congress. In what’s considered a “rare show of force,” the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the CEOs of Discord, Snap and X to appear at a Dec. 6 hearing about online safety and online child exploitation, reports The Washington Post.
Lawmakers have argued that the messaging and social media companies have been so far unwilling to help with their bipartisan investigation. But representatives from Snap and X said they have been “working in good faith” with the committee or “already agreed to testify.”
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, as well as the CEO of TikTok are also expected to appear at the hearing.
CalMatters is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
