OpenAI said on Wednesday it had completed the first phase of a new governance structure that added Microsoft as a non-voting member of the board of directors, as it works to end the divisions that fueled the ouster of Sam Altman as CEO and is preparing for a future as a larger company.
In a blog post, Altman, who was quickly reinstated last week, also outlined his priorities for OpenAI as he takes the reins of the high-profile ai startup. He said the company would resume its work on building secure ai systems and products that benefit its customers. He added that his board would focus on improving governance and overseeing an independent review of the events leading up to and following his removal as chief executive.
Microsoft expands a three-person board that OpenAI announced last week. The tech giant is one of OpenAI's largest investors and has committed $13 billion. Microsoft will be able to participate in OpenAI board meetings but not vote on business decisions.
“Part of what good governance means is that there is more predictability, transparency and input from various stakeholders, and this seemed like a good way to achieve that from a very important party,” Altman said in an interview, referring to Microsoft.
The blog post was Mr. Altman's first extensive comment since the leadership crisis at OpenAI. Four board members fired him on Nov. 17, saying he had not been “consistently truthful” with them. That sparked a frenzy, with more than 700 of OpenAI's 770 employees signing a letter saying they would leave if Altman didn't return. A few days later he regained his position and two members of the board of directors said they would resign.
The drama was scrutinized because OpenAI is one of the most powerful players in artificial intelligence, a rapidly evolving technology that could help people be more productive, potentially displace jobs and be used to spread misinformation. The leadership crisis raised questions about the company's governance structure, which is unusual because it is controlled by a nonprofit board, as well as whether it had outgrown its roots and how it should move forward.
On Wednesday, Altman and Bret Taylor, a technology executive who has been named OpenAI's new president, did not directly address these questions in blog posts. Without providing many details, they said the company would create a board that included members with expertise in technology and security policies.
Taylor said OpenAI would remain committed to its mission of building artificial intelligence “that is safe and benefits all of humanity.”
For the foreseeable future, OpenAI's board of directors will consist of Microsoft; Mr. Taylor, an early Facebook officer and former co-CEO of Salesforce; Lawrence Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury; and Adam D'Angelo, CEO of the question-and-answer site Quora, who was among the members who ousted Altman.
In an interview, Taylor said he and Summers would oversee the independent review and select a law firm to conduct the investigation.
Microsoft declined to comment on its board membership.
Altman said OpenAI had not lost any employees during the leadership crisis. Its executive ranks will be similar to what they were before Altman's ouster, with Mira Murati returning to her role as chief technology officer. Altman said Greg Brockman, the company's former president, will become his partner and continue in his role as president.
The future of Ilya Sutskever, chief scientist and founder of OpenAI, is unclear. He was one of the board members who voted to remove Mr. Altman. Sutskever later said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that he regretted his role in the overthrow.
In his blog post, Altman said he harbored “no ill will toward” Sutskever and was talking to him about “how he can continue his work at OpenAI.”
