Sam Altman in talks to rejoin OpenAI board, say reports

After the shock dismissal of Sam Altman, OpenAI directors are reportedly in talks for a possible reinstatement.

Discussions are taking place between the former CEO and at least one board member, according to reports citing people familiar with the matter.

Almost every staff member at OpenAI has threatened to leave unless Mr Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman are reinstated.

Microsoft, the biggest investor in OpenAI, has since offered him a job.

According to reports by Bloomberg and the Financial Times, the artificial intelligence company is exploring various options, including bringing Mr Altman back in his former position or as a board director.

It is still unclear whether Mr Altman will join Microsoft which has also offered to match the pay of any staff who join it from OpenAI.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said he was “committed to OpenAI and Sam, irrespective of what configuration”.

“Obviously that depends on the people at OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft, so I’m open to both options,” he told news site CNBC.

Emmett Shear, the former head of Twitch who has been named the new interim head of OpenAI, is also reportedly part of negotiations.

Last week, the board decided to remove Mr Altman which led to Mr Brockman’s resignation, sending the star AI company into chaos.

The decision was made by the three non-employees board members, Adam D’Angelo, Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner, and a third co-founder and the firm’s chief scientist Ilya Sutskever.

Mr Sutskever has since apologised on X, formerly known as Twitter, and signed the letter calling on the board to reverse course.

Unusually for a company that is reportedly valued at $80bn, the company’s board comprised of just six people as of last week.

Evan Morikawa, an engineering manager at OpenAI, has said that 743 out of 770 employees at OpenAI have signed a letter calling on the board to resign – with staff themselves threatening to leave if their demands are not met.