Oklo Stock Falls As Sam Altman Steps Down As Board Chair: 'Now Is The Right Time'

Oklo Inc OKLO shares are tumbling in Tuesday’s after-hours session after Sam Altman announced he is stepping down as chairman of the board.

What To Know: According to a CNBC report, OpenAI’s Altman is stepping away from Oklo’s board to give the company more flexibility to go after partnerships with OpenAI and other hyperscalers.

Oklo went public in May through a merger with AltC Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by Altman, who had been the chair of Oklo's board since 2015. Oklo was the only public company Altman chaired.

"As Oklo explores strategic partnerships to deploy clean energy at scale, particularly to enable the deployment of AI, I believe now is the right time for me to step down," Altman was reported to have said in a statement.

Nuclear startups surged in popularity last year as hyperscalers increasingly turned to nuclear power to meet the rising energy demands of data centers. Data centers need to have reliable power at all times and nuclear offers an emissions-free option. Many hyperscalers also have emissions-reduction goals that they are trying to meet.

“We are excited to continue working with him to bring scalable, clean energy to the AI sector and beyond, and to continue to explore strategic partnerships with leading AI companies, including potentially with OpenAI,” Oklo co-founder and COO Caroline Cochran said per CNBC.

Altman previously said he believes nuclear energy is necessary to meet booming global energy demand, especially as AI continues to rapidly advance. His vision for a better future involves developing AI and energy in parallel.

“I’m all-in on energy. I think there’s urgent demand for tons and tons of cheap, safe, clean energy at scale,” Altman told CNBC last year when Oklo announced the deal with AltC. “I don’t see a way for us to get there without nuclear … I feel like this is the most likely and the best way to get there.”

Altman met the co-founders of Oklo back in 2013 and recruited them to join tech startup accelerator company Y Combinator, where he was president from 2014 to 2019. Altman ended up leading Oklo's seed round in 2015 before joining the company's board.

OpenAI recently closed a $40 billion funding round with major investors like SoftBank and Microsoft. The financing puts OpenAI’s valuation at around $300 billion, up from $157 billion in its previous funding round.

OKLO Price Action: Oklo shares were down 11.29% after-hours, trading at $19.10 at the time of publication Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro.

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