Sam Altman returns as OpenAI CEO following whirlwind weekend

OpenAI has confirmed that it has reached a deal for Sam Altman to return as its CEO, with a new board chaired by former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor. The news comes after a busy few days that saw the AI company’s board originally vote to oust Altman before mass resignations and interference from Microsoft forced it to change course.

“We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo,” OpenAI wrote on X. “We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this.”

Sam Altman was briefly fired from OpenAI before announcing his return days later

Altman also posted, saying: “i love openai, and everything i’ve done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together. when i decided to join msft on sun evening, it was clear that was the best path for me and the team. with the new board and w satya’s support, i’m looking forward to returning to openai, and building on our strong partnership with msft.”

The move appears to bring about a resolution to a drama that gripped the entire tech community since it was first announced on Friday. Following the announcement that Altman would be removed, almost all of OpenAI’s workforce expressed solitude with the former CEO and the company risked losing employees to Microsoft, who had offered Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman to lead a new advanced AI research team.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella added: "We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board. We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance... We look forward to building on our strong partnership and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners."

This is a breaking news story and information will be added on an ongoing basis.