Reid Hoffman On Why Sam Altman Was Briefly Ousted From OpenAI: 'Still Don't Think We Fully Know'

In an unexpected turn of events, former director of OpenAI, Reid Hoffman, has voiced his bafflement at the abrupt, albeit brief, ouster of CEO Sam Altman, three weeks after the incident.

What Happened: Hoffman, who is also the co-founder of LinkedIn, expressed his puzzlement over the quick decision made by OpenAI’s board to displace Altman from his CEO position temporarily.

Talking at the LiveWired conference held by Wired in San Francisco on Tuesday, Hoffman expressed that the removal came without any clear reasons being divulged, reported CNBC.

“Reading the blog post was like, ‘What's going on?'”, Hoffman stated.

He added, “I still don't think we fully know.”

After a significant push from major investors and facing a potential mass employee walkout, Altman was reinstated as CEO. The board is currently changing, including the stepping down of some long-standing directors. The exact trigger for this internal discord remains murky.

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Why It Matters: The recent upheaval at OpenAI has created waves in the tech industry. Since Altman’s temporary ouster, there have been multiple developments, with rumors and allegations of Altman neglecting AI safety.

While the reasons for Altman’s temporary dethroning vary from his plans to procure funds for a new AI chip startup to disagreements with board members, no official statement has been released, leaving the company under a cloud of uncertainty.

Despite the internal turbulence, OpenAI continues to operate its widely-used ChatGPT chatbot and maintain its partnership with Microsoft MSFT.

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Image Credits – Joi, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons