Sam Altman Will Return to OpenAI's Board with Three New Directors

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in San Francisco, California, US November 16, 2023. (Reuters)
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in San Francisco, California, US November 16, 2023. (Reuters)
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Sam Altman Will Return to OpenAI's Board with Three New Directors

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in San Francisco, California, US November 16, 2023. (Reuters)
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in San Francisco, California, US November 16, 2023. (Reuters)

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman will return to the ChatGPT-maker's board along with three new directors, the world's most prominent artificial intelligence company said on Friday.

An investigation by law firm WilmerHale into the events surrounding Altman's November firing has concluded, and the company has created new governance rules and strengthened its conflict of interest policy. The board said it unanimously backed Altman's leadership.

Employees, investors and OpenAI's biggest financial backer, Microsoft, had expressed shock over Altman's ouster, which was reversed within days.

OpenAI said on Friday it was appointing new directors including Altman, Sue Desmond-Hellmann, a former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Nicole Seligman, a former president of Sony Entertainment, and Fidji Simo, CEO of Instacart.

Altman welcomed the new board members in a post on X, adding, "We have important work in front of us."

They will join current board members Adam D'Angelo, the CEO of Quora, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Chairman Bret Taylor, former co-CEO of Salesforce.

The investigation by WilmerHale found that Altman's dismissal was not the result of concerns related to OpenAI's finances, product safety or other issues.

"Instead it was a consequence of a breakdown in the relationship and loss of trust between the prior Board and Mr. Altman," OpenAI said, describing the law firm's findings.

"WilmerHale found that the prior Board believed at the time that its actions would mitigate internal management challenges and did not anticipate that its actions would destabilize the Company," OpenAI said in a blog post.

"WilmerHale found that the prior Board acted within its broad discretion to terminate Mr. Altman, but also found that his conduct did not mandate removal," it added.

Conflict of interest

OpenAI said it was adopting new corporate governance guidelines and creating a whistleblower hotline. The startup, whose CEO has been a prolific investor in other companies, also said it was strengthening its conflict-of-interest policy.

The board gave few details about those improvements.

The board's lack of detail for its surprise November decision fueled speculation about potential misconduct by Altman, which he and the company have denied, and about supposed existential risks from the technology that OpenAI is building.

Altman's return as CEO about four days after his firing came after nearly all of OpenAI's employees threatened to depart unless the board restored Altman and resigned.

His return led to discussions about how OpenAI would be governed, and the company announced a reconstituted board that did not include Altman and was helmed by Taylor.



Google Hopes to Reach Gemini Deal with Apple this Year

FILE PHOTO: Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks to media following his meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (not pictured) at Google Campus in Warsaw, Poland, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks to media following his meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (not pictured) at Google Campus in Warsaw, Poland, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel/File Photo
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Google Hopes to Reach Gemini Deal with Apple this Year

FILE PHOTO: Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks to media following his meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (not pictured) at Google Campus in Warsaw, Poland, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks to media following his meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (not pictured) at Google Campus in Warsaw, Poland, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel/File Photo

Google hopes to enter an agreement with Apple by the middle of this year to include its Gemini AI technology on new phones, CEO Sundar Pichai said in testimony at an antitrust trial in Washington on Wednesday.
Pichai testified in the Alphabet unit's defense against proposals by the US Department of Justice which include ending lucrative deals with Apple, Samsung, AT&T and Verizon to be the default search engine on new mobile devices, Reuters reported.
During questioning by DOJ attorney Veronica Onyema, Pichai said that while Google does not yet have an agreement with Apple to include its Gemini AI on iPhones, Pichai spoke with Apple CEO Tim Cook about the possibility last year.
A potential deal this year would see Google's Gemini AI included within Apple Intelligence, Apple's own set of AI features, Pichai said.
Google also plans to experiment with including ads in its Gemini app, Pichai said.
Prosecutors have sought to illustrate how Google could extend its dominance in online search to AI. Google maintained its monopoly in part by paying billions of dollars to wireless carriers and smartphone manufacturers, US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled last year.
The judge is now weighing what actions Google should take to restore competition. The outcome of the case could fundamentally reshape the internet by potentially unseating Google as the go-to portal for information online.
The DOJ and a broad coalition of state attorneys general are pressing for remedies including requiring Google to sell off its Chrome web browser, banning it from paying to be the default search engine and requiring it to share search data with competitors.
The data-sharing provisions would discourage Google from investing in research and development, Pichai testified on Wednesday.
Provisions that would require the company to share its search index and search query data are "extraordinary," and amount to a "defacto divestiture of our IP related to search," Pichai said.
"It would be trivial to reverse engineer and effectively build Google search from the outside," he said.
That would make it "unviable to invest in R&D the way we have for the past two decades," Pichai added.
Google has said it plans to appeal once the judge makes a final ruling.