After a tumultuous series of events, OpenAI fired its CEO Sam Altman, hired a new one, and then rehired Altman following enormous internal and public backlash — all in less than a week.

‘OpenAI is nothing without its people,’ warned the company’s Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, after the board of directors fired Mr Altman. It was not long before the vast majority of employees threatened a mass exodus over the poor handling of Altman’s dismissal.

Some may ask, who is Sam Altman? Altman is an influential American entrepreneur and investor who is a co-founder of the world-leading artificial intelligence firm, OpenAI. He previously co-founded the social networking company Loopt, and served as president of startup accelerator company Y Combinator.

Altman has quickly become one of the most important people shaping the future as we know it. He is arguably one of the most powerful men in Silicon Valley and possibly one of the most influential men in the world if you believe the hype around artificial intelligence.

On November 17, Altman faced an abrupt ousting orchestrated by the OpenAI board, triggering understandable panic among employees and investors. According to Reuters, almost all of the company’s employees threatened to quit, given that the decision was made by the small board of directors out of nowhere, and without sound justification.

The board’s statement said:

‘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.’

People weren’t convinced. You don’t just fire the co-founder, CEO, and one of the most famous men in Silicon Valley.

The board, up until last week, consisted of just six members: Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Adam D’Angelo, Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner. Notably, Altman, Brockman, and Sutskever were part of the founding team, while D’Angelo, McCauley, and Toner were independent board members. Twitter rumours speculated that the coup was led by Sutskever with the backing of D’Angelo, McCauley, and Toner — although as yet no one knows what actually happened. Brockman then quit the company, leaving just four members on the board.

Over the weekend, almost the entire company of over 700 employees threatened to leave if Altman and Brockman were not reinstated. The board initially refused to do so and instead hired ex-Twitch CEO Emmett Shear.

Shear has been openly alarmist about the risks of artificial intelligence and is in favour of slowing if not altogether stopping its development. He had said in an interview with Logan Bartlett earlier this year that the existential risk of AI should ‘make you shit your pants’ — a bizarre statement for the man at the helm of the world’s most advanced AI firm (well, at least he was for 72 hours).

However, the appointment of Shear was a strategic choice by D’Angelo, McCauley and Toner. D’Angelo has long held the belief that OpenAI should not become a big tech company. And McCauley belongs to the board of the Centre for Governance of Artificial Intelligence at Oxford University, along with Toner who has also expressed deep concern for the long-term risks of AI development.

It is believed that disputes had arisen between Altman and the independent board members. Altman and Toner are reported to have had ‘academic and philosophical’ disagreements, while the tensions with McCauley went much deeper, according to American tech journalist Kara Swisher. McCauley allegedly had used ‘very apocalyptic terms for AI tech’ and had fears for who should and should not have their ‘fingers on the button’.

And then, after a remarkable series of events, Altman came back.

OpenAI announced that it reached an agreement to return Altman as CEO with a new ‘initial board’ consisting of Altman, former Salesforce CEO Bret Taylor (Chair), former US Treasurer Larry Summers, and existing independent board member Adam D’Angelo.

Why did all this happen? Well, the details are unclear and it is quite possible there will be further investigations into what happened, how and why, however, at the moment it appears as though the turmoil was caused by conflict between AI optimists and AI pessimists.

The reasons given by the original board for Altman’s firing offered little explanation beyond his alleged poor communication and the need to defend OpenAI’s mission to develop AI that benefits humanity.

Altman has always favoured the acceleration of AI development while acknowledging the commensurate risks — he’s an AI-optimist. The three independent board members who seized control of OpenAI were not. It seems as though D’Angelo and Toner are at least alarmists and McCauley is probably outright pessimistic.

Is it possible some members of the board were prepared to risk the firm rather than risk the progress of AI? We may never know. And after the recent Sam Bank-FTX debacle, plus WeWork’s bankruptcy, Silicon Valley is starting to look like a real chicken parade.

If the goal of the ‘independents formerly-known-as-the-OpenAI-board’ was to make a point about AI accelerating out of control, it did so at a great cost.

We are left to wonder if their desire to prevent unruly development of AI conflicted with the company’s mission of maximising the value and potential of artificial intelligence to benefit humanity. While their intentions might have been noble in aiming to safeguard humanity from AI threats, their preoccupation with slamming on the brakes has potentially damaged the firm’s reputation in the court of public opinion.

At the end of the day, one must reasonably consider, what are the risks of not progressing with the development of AI? The technology truly has the potential to find novel solutions to humanity’s most pressing problems; terminal illnesses, resource shortages, pandemic viruses and climate change to name a few.

And what would happen if some of the rebellious board members had gotten their way? If tech companies in the West cease their development of AI, then someone else certainly will. China has turned up the heat on the AI arms race, investing almost $100 billion between 2022 and 2023 alone. Russia has also accelerated its artificial intelligence programs over the past few years. Putin even expressed in an address, ‘Whoever leads in AI will rule the world.’

With stakes that high, it seems a clear mistake for US companies to be in-fighting over differing approaches to development. In the aftermath of CEO Sam Altman’s sudden removal and reinstatement, OpenAI faces a pivotal moment.

Beyond internal discord, the conflict mirrors a broader challenge in the AI industry, where US companies risk falling behind global competitors. OpenAI underscores the delicate balance between ethical considerations and the imperative for innovation. As the world watches, the company’s future will shape the ongoing dialogue on AI development in an increasingly volatile global landscape. With Altman back at the helm, things seem a little brighter — for now.