Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, has taken to X, formerly Twitter, to clear the air about Sam Altman’s departure from the startup accelerator.
What Happened: Graham refuted claims that Altman was fired from Y Combinator, in a post on X.
Graham explained that Altman had been managing both Y Combinator and OpenAI, but when OpenAI decided to establish a for-profit subsidiary with Altman as CEO, it was mutually agreed that Altman should focus on one role.
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“We (specifically Jessica) told him that if he was going to work full-time on OpenAI, we should find someone else to run YC, and he agreed."
Altman was “asked to leave” by Y Combinator due to prioritizing his personal goals over that of the company, reported The Washington Post in November.
Why It Matters: The clarification comes in the wake of allegations made by a former OpenAI board member, Helen Toner, who pulled up Altman's history at two of his former employers, startup accelerator Y Combinator and a startup named Loopt. She said this was due to "deceptive and chaotic behavior."
“It’s come out that he was actually fired from his previous job at Y Combinator, which was hushed up at the time,” Toner said.
Elon Musk, co-founder of OpenAI as well as the founder of xAI, also recently criticized the organization’s new board, agreeing with the former board member’s remarks that it lacked "real power."
Furthermore, Toner also revealed that the OpenAI board was not informed about the launch of ChatGPT, adding to the controversy surrounding Altman.
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