Investors try to get Altman back

OpenAI's investors are making efforts to bring back Sam Altman, the chief executive officer who was ousted Friday, the latest development in a fastmoving chain of events at the artificial-intelligence company behind ChatGPT. 

- Keach Hagey

Altman returning is thinking about but has told investors that if he does return, he wants a new board and governance structure, people familiar with the matter said.

He has separately discussed starting a company that would bring on former OpenAI employees, including several who quit in protest over his ouster.

Altman is expected to decide between the two options as soon as this weekend, the people said. Leading shareholders in OpenAI, including Microsoft and the venture firm Thrive Capital, are helping orchestrate the efforts to reinstate Altman. Microsoft invested $13 billion in OpenAI and is its primary financial backer. Thrive Capital is the second-largest shareholder in the company.

Other investors in the company are supportive of these efforts.

The talks come as the company was thrown into chaos after OpenAI's board abruptly decided to part ways with Altman, citing his alleged lack of candor in communications, and demoted its president and co-founder, Greg Brockman, leading him to quit.

A spate of high-level researchers resigned, some of OpenAI's corporate customers are looking for alternatives, and a high-stakes financing with venture capitalists is now in jeopardy, people familiar with the matter said.

The exact reason for Altman's firing couldn't be determined. But for weeks, tensions had boiled around the rapid expansion of OpenAI's commercial offerings, which some board members felt violated the company's initial charter to develop safe AI.