Investigation into the ouster of OpenAI’s CEO is nearing its end
WilmerHale, a leading US law firm, is close to wrapping up a detailed investigation into OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his ouster from the artificial intelligence startup late last year, two people with knowledge of the proceedings said.
When the investigation is complete, it could provide insight into what happened behind the scenes with Mr. Altman and OpenAI’s former board of directors, which fired him on Nov. 17 and rehired him five days later. OpenAI, which is valued at over $80 billion, has created an AI frenzy and could help shape the direction of the transformative technology.
Mr. Altman, 38, has been telling people in recent weeks that the investigation was nearing an end, the two people with knowledge of the matter said. The results could be delivered to OpenAI’s board as early as next month, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to non-disclosure agreements.
OpenAI declined to comment. WilmerHale did not respond to a request for comment.
Investigators have been interviewing OpenAI employees and executives over the past three months after the former board said it no longer had confidence in Mr. Altman’s ability to lead the company, the people said. The board said Mr. Altman had not been “consistently candid in his communications,” though it did not provide details.
Privately, the board was concerned that Mr. Altman was not sharing all his plans to raise money from investors in the Middle East for an AI chip project, people with knowledge of the matter said.
After being ousted, Mr. Altman waged a tough battle against some OpenAI executives to have himself reinstated as CEO. He won, but made concessions. He agreed to allow OpenAI to hire an outside law firm to investigate his ouster, and was not given back his own board seat at the company. But he managed to renew the board, removing two members and adding two others.
OpenAI nearly imploded during the leadership crisis, jeopardizing a potential windfall for its investors, such as Microsoft, and its employees. In the months since Mr. Altman’s reinstatement, insiders have done their utmost to limit the fallout, advising employees to keep potential dissent quiet for fear of jeopardizing the company’s fortunes.
OpenAI is considered a leader in generative AI, technology that can generate text, sounds and images based on short prompts. It is also one of many companies aiming to build artificial general intelligence, or AGI, a machine that can do everything the human brain can do.
Meta, Google, Microsoft and others are also racing to develop such technology. Leaders at these companies believe that AGI will revolutionize the computer industry, as well as the global economy and workforce.