OpenAI board fires CEO Sam Altman for not being 'consistently candid in communications'

{ MIRA MURATI TAKES OVER AS INTERIM CEO }

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The board of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, on Friday fired chief executive officer Sam Altman - to many, the human face of generative artificial intelligence (AI) after a review found he was "not consistently candid in his communications" with the directors, sending shock waves across the tech industry.

"The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI," the artificial intelligence company said in a statement.

In the year since Altman catapulted ChatGPT to global fame, he has become Silicon Valley's sought-after voice on the promise and potential dangers of AI and his sudden and mostly unexplained exit brought uncertainty to the industry's future.

Mira Murati, OpenAI's chief technology officer, will take over as interim CEO effective immediately, the company said, while it searches for a permanent replacement.

The announcement also said another OpenAI co-founder and top executive, Greg Brockman, the board's chairman, would step down from that role but remain at the company, where he serves as president. But later on X, formerly Twitter, Brockman posted a message he sent to OpenAI employees in which he wrote, "based on today's news, I quit."