OpenAI is in a shambles as majority of its 770 workers threaten to quit in the wake of Sam Altman’s shock firing – with leaders now in ‘intense discussions’ to unify the company

• ChatGPT maker OpenAI has descended into chaos as majority of staff threaten to quit following the dramatic firing of CEO Sam Altman
• The AI startup has now revealed that ‘intense discussions’ to stave off a staff mutiny are underway
• Vice President of Global Affairs Anna Makanju told staff in an internal memo that management has ‘a plan’ 

OpenAI has descended into chaos following the dramatic ousting of its CEO Sam Altman on Friday after a disagreement with the company’s board.  

The Artificial Intelligence company, maker of ChatGPT, has revealed that ‘intense discussions’ to stave off a staff mutiny are now underway, Bloomberg reports. 

By Monday evening 747 out of 770 of the company’s employees had threatened to quit and join Microsoft if Altman, 38, was not reinstated. 

In an internal memo written by Vice President of Global Affairs Anna Makanju and seen by Bloomberg employees were told on Monday that management was in touch with Altman, the new CEP Emmett Shear and the board ‘but they are not prepared to give us a final response this evening’. 

‘We are continuing to go over mutually acceptable options and are scheduled to speak again tomorrow morning when everyone’s had a little more sleep,’ Makanju wrote. 

Sam Altman was dramatically ousted from OpenAI on Friday after a disagreement with the company’s board

By Monday evening 747 out of 770 of the company’s employees had threatened to quit and join Microsoft if Altman was not reinstated

‘These intense discussions can drag out, and I know it can feel impossible to be patient.’

She added: ‘Know that we have a plan that we are working towards.’

Altman has now been recruited by Microsoft who also committed to hiring any other OpenAI staff who chose to join them at its new AI research subsidiary. 

OpenAI’s board are also facing potentially imminent legal action from venture capitalists backing the start up in order to force them to reinstate Altman. 

An individual at a venture fund with a stake in OpenAI told the Financial Times that ‘legal action could come as soon as tomorrow.’

OpenAI’s other investors, led by Thrive Capital, are also actively seeking Altman’s return, people with knowledge of the effort told Bloomberg News on Monday.

Vice President of Global Affairs Anna Makanju sought to reassure staff in an internal memo as the startup descends into chaos 

 Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, receives the Professor Hawking Fellowship on behalf of OpenAI on November 1, in Cambridge, England

Emmet Shear, is now the new CEO of OpenAI after his predecessor Sam Altman was fired 

Until Friday’s dramatic ousting the board consisted of Altman, President Greg Brockman, Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, Adam D’Angelo , tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner.

Sutskever later said he ‘deeply regretted’ his participation in pushing out Altman and added his name to the letter from employees threatening to quit.

In their letter, staff said the directors had ‘undermined our mission and company’ in by firing Altman and stripping his co-founder Greg Brockman, who later quit, of his position on the board. 

Founded by Altman and ten others in 2015, OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT a year ago – and its ability to mimic human writing has proved polarizing ever since.

Aside from sparking worry amongst the public, this uncertainty was apparently also felt within OpenAI’s six-person board, according to The New York Times report – particularly, by one of Altman’s cofounders, Ilya Sutskever.

In a series of interviews, people familiar with the matter described how the AI researcher had become worried about OpenAI’s budding technology prior to the firing, and shared a belief his boss was not paying enough attention to the risks.

Those concerns came as many warned AI could one day result in a dystopian, machine-run landscape, as it did in James Cameron’s famed Terminator series.

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