OpenAI, the company behind the famous chatbot ChatGPT, has appointed Emmet Shear, former CEO of Twitch, as its interim CEO, replacing Sam Altman, who is expected to join Microsoft. The decision to appoint Shear was made late last night following Altman's sudden departure a few days ago, putting an end to speculation about his potential return to the role.
Shear denied on the social media platform X the speculation that OpenAI's board ousted Altman due to disagreements over the safety of large AI models. He pledged to conduct an investigation into the dismissal and to consider a new governance system for the company while continuing its path toward making technologies like the renowned chatbot ChatGPT available.
Shear stated, "I am not crazy enough to take this position without the support of the board to market our fantastic models; the stability and success of OpenAI are such that no disruptions like this could derail them."
Shear co-founded Twitch, a live streaming platform owned by Amazon.com, and resigned from it earlier this year. According to an internal memo seen by Reuters, OpenAI dismissed Altman last Friday after a "communication breakdown."
Altman co-founded OpenAI, which sparked the generative AI wave a year ago by developing ChatGPT, one of the fastest-growing software applications in the world. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced in posts on X that Altman would become the CEO of a new research group at the company, along with other colleagues who resigned from OpenAI, including Greg Brockman, the company's president who stepped down after Altman's dismissal.
Microsoft has invested ten billion dollars in OpenAI, betting on its success, and has launched what it calls a virtual assistant for its business customers based on the startup's technology.
