Ex-CEO and President of OpenAI say in update that they are “shocked and sad,” but “we will be fine.”
In a joint statement Friday evening, Sam Altman, the former CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, and former president Greg Brockman said they were “shocked and saddened” by the day’s events but stressed, “We will be fine.” Bigger things are coming soon.”
Altman, who co-founded OpenAI alongside Brockman, was fired on Friday after the company’s board said it “no longer had confidence” in his leadership. Despite an initial statement that Brockman would remain with the company, he resigned just hours later.
“Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today,” they said in their statement. published on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“First, let’s thank all the incredible people we’ve worked with at OpenAI, our customers, our investors and everyone who reached out,” the statement continued.
“We are still trying to find out exactly what happened. Here’s what we know,” they continued.
“Last night Sam received a text message from Ilya asking to talk to him on Friday afternoon. Sam attended a Google Meet and the entire board, except Greg, was there. “Ilya told Sam that he was being fired and that the news would be made public very soon,” they said.
“At 12:19 p.m. Greg received a text message from Ilya requesting a quick call. At 12:23 p.m. Ilya sent a Google Meet link. Greg was told he was being removed from the board (but was vital to the company and would retain his role) and that Sam had been fired. Around the same time, OpenAI published a blog post,” he continued
“As far as we know, the management team was made aware of it shortly afterwards, with the exception of Mira, who found out the night before.”
The statement concluded: “The outpouring of support has been truly beautiful; Thank you, but please don’t worry. We’ll be fine. Bigger things are coming soon.”
In a separate statement posted on the same social media site, Altman said: “I love you all. Today was a strange experience in many ways. But something unexpected is that it was a bit like reading your own eulogy while you’re still alive. The outpouring of love is great. One takeaway: tell your friends how great you think they are.”
