Sam Altman, boss of OpenAi, on November 16, 2023 in San Francisco, California (AFP/ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS)
Sam Altman, star of Silicon Valley, was removed, with immediate effect, from his position as boss of OpenAI, which launched the generative artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT a year ago, with the board of directors criticizing him for not having always been “frank” with him.
“Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he had not always been candid in his communications with the board, hindering his ability to fulfill his responsibilities.” , explains a press release, emphasizing that this body no longer has “confidence in its ability to direct OpenAI”.
Mira Murati, technical director of OpenAI, has been appointed to act as interim head of the company while waiting for the ongoing process to find a permanent successor to conclude. She has worked there for five years.
“OpenAI was intentionally structured to advance our mission: to ensure that artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. The council remains fully committed to serving this mission,” he said.
“We are grateful for Sam’s many contributions to the creation and growth of OpenAI. At the same time, we believe new governance is necessary moving forward,” he continued.
Sam Altman, 38, reacted on the X network: “I loved my time at OpenAI. It was transformative for me on a personal level but also, hopefully, for the world.”
As part of this reorganization, Chairman of the Board Greg Brockman — a co-founder of the company — is leaving that position but remaining on staff.
– “Control” –
Founded at the end of 2015, OpenAi has been able to count on the financial support of prestigious contributors from the outset, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, investor Peter Thiel and Elon Musk.
Founded at the end of 2015, OpenAi has been able to count from its beginnings on the financial support of prestigious contributors, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, investor Peter Thiel as well as Elon Musk (AFP/Archives/Stefani Reynolds)
The company is financed by Microsoft, which has invested several billion dollars in it and which has integrated this technology into its own products, such as the Bing search engine.
In a statement, the IT giant reacted to the news of the executive’s departure: “We have a long-term partnership with OpenAi and Microsoft remains committed to Mira and the teams as we bring a new era of ‘artificial intelligence to users’.
“Altman fired as boss of OpenAi, a shock but, ultimately, Microsoft will simply have more control over the situation given its stake” in the company’s capital, published on X (formerly Twitter) Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
He “was crucial in guiding the platform to where it is but the fact that he is no longer there creates little concern for the future,” he added. “A year ago it would have been different.”
Since the first version of ChatGPT was put online on November 30, 2022, millions of people have used it to write messages, ask for a cooking recipe or invent a story to tell their children – which the conversational robot can then read to them.
The launch of ChatGPT kicked off a race in artificial intelligence, pitting giants like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta against each other.
Widely considered a revolution comparable to the advent of the internet, generative AI makes it possible to produce texts, lines of code, images and sounds upon simple request in everyday language.
Despite their success, ChatGPT and other interfaces of this type also raise serious concerns about the dangers for democracy (massive disinformation) or employment (replaced professions), in particular.
Sam Altman spoke before the United States Congress and spoke with heads of state about this technology and the fears it raises.
“I have a lot of empathy for people’s feelings, whatever their feelings” about ChatGPT, Sam Altman told AFP on Thursday, on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. (Apec) which is being held this week in San Francisco.
© 2023 AFP
Did you like this article ? Share it with your friends using the buttons below.
