OpenAI drama is over.

The OpenAI Drama’s Season One is over. Now it’s time to go back to work or, better yet, spend time with our families over the long Thanksgiving weekend, instead of binging on every rumor, nuance, and hiccup.

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.

— Sam Altman. 

Sam Altman and Greg Brockman have returned to OpenAI in their original roles as CEO and CTO. They are no longer part of the not-for-profit’s board, along with three other existing members — Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, and Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s chief scientist. Adam D’Angelo remains on the board, while Bret Taylor, ex-co-CEO of Salesforce, becomes the chairman, and Larry Summers will join the board.

Now looking ahead — it is almost certain we will be back for Season Two. Why?Let’s start with the unanswered questions.

• Why was Sam fired in the first place? 
• Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner won’t go quietly into the sunset. 
• If you have followed Ilya Sutskever over the years, another development is likely.
• We should expect a lot of debate in the media over the new board composition.

OpenAI is highly influential for the future of the technology industry and humanity. If you are creating technologies that will have a significant impact, it’s important to prioritize transparency. At the most fundamental level, they should follow their own charter. If not, they should abandon the facade of a not-for-profit and instead become a for-profit company. 

OpenAI plays a significant role in society, whether as a not-for-profit research lab or a for-profit behemoth. It is clear that they need to make future decisions based on the larger societal impact. The recent personnel drama doesn’t instill confidence. It is easy to overlook that when you have billions riding on a massive wave. Still, just looking back to the recent past is a good reminder that technology in the post-mobile era is less about technology itself and more about people. 

Silicon Valley doesn’t really learn from the past, as startups that relied too much on Facebook got double-crossed by the company and its self-interests. Similarly, those who bet their future on Amazon Web Services have had to face rising costs. 

If you are a startup, an organization, or a large company, you need to learn from the past five days and start building resilience in your product plans. Whether you choose OpenAI’s commercial competitors, or better yet, bet on open source, remember that relying solely on this one entity is not prudent.

Foundational Risks of OpenAI

Microsoft still sits at the top of the AI tree. 

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. Sam, Greg, and I have talked and agreed they have a key role to play along with the OAI leadership team in ensuring OAI continues to thrive and build on its mission. We look forward to building on our strong partnership and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners.  

— Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO.