Sam Altman to return to OpenAI Board after probe clears him

Months after a boardroom dustup that saw him fired and rehired by the company behind ChatGPT, CEO Sam Altman will return to the board of OpenAI. According to the company, Altman was also found to have been wrongly fired in an internal investigation that was launched in the days after his chaotic dismissal last year.

The inquiry was conducted by the law firm WilmerHale. The inquiry concluded that the firing of Altman last year was due to a breakdown in the relationship and loss of trust between him and the prior board, rather than concerns about product safety, development pace, or OpenAI's finances.  

Following the findings, Altman will join the board with three other new directors - Sue Desmond-Hellmann, Nicole Seligman, and Fidji Simo. The company also revealed the implementation of new governance rules and a strengthened conflict of interest policy, unanimously backed by the board.

As per the findings, the actions of the previous board were intended to mitigate internal management challenges and did not anticipate destabilizing the company. Moreover, the AI chatbot company said that it has implemented the new corporate governance guidelines, the creation of a whistleblower hotline, and the reinforcement of its conflict-of-interest policy.

Altman, welcoming the new board members, expressed the importance of the work ahead.

"I am thrilled to announce our new board members: Fidji Simo, Sue Desmond-Hellmann, and Nicole Seligman, and to continue collaborating with Bret, Larry, and Adam," Saltman stated in a post on X.

"I am grateful to everyone on our team for their resilience and unwavering focus during a challenging period. I especially want to express my gratitude to Mira for our strong partnership and her leadership during difficult times, as well as in all the quieter moments where it truly matters. I also want to acknowledge Greg, whose unique leadership role is indispensable to OpenAI's existence. Being in the trenches is never easy, but having them by my side makes it much more bearable," he added.