OpenAI executives thought Sam Altman created toxic environment

Over three months ago, CEO Sam Altman was ousted from OpenAI. At the time, OpenAI said that they no longer had faith in Sam Altman’s ability to lead the company. He was reinstated as the CEO five days after his ouster after many company’s employees threatened to quit and join Microsoft if he wasn’t back. Returning to the position, Sam Altman fired all previous board members to form a new board.

A report now claims that OpenAI’s CTO Mira Murati played a key role in Sam Altman’s ouster. She had stepped in as the interim CEO when Sam Altman left the company but The New York Times reported that Mira Murati wrote a private memo to Sam Altman questioning his management and shared her concerns with the board which led to the decision to his removal.

Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s co-founder and chief scientist, also expressed similar worries saying that Sam Altman had a history of manipulative behaviour, as per the report. Both executives described a turbulent relationship with Sam Altman and said that he fostered a toxic work environment by excluding executives who didn’t accept with his decisions.

Although Hannah Wong, OpenAI’s spokesperson, then said that the company’s senior leadership team which was led by Mira Murati as interim chief executive, had requested Sam Altman’s return. The spokesperson said, “The strong support from his team underscores that he is an effective CEO who is open to different points of view, willing to solve complex challenges, and who demonstrates care for his team. We look forward to findings from the independent review versus unsubstantiated claims.”

Currently law firm WilmerHale is conducting an investigation into the same and results will be released soon, the report claimed.