Sam Altman has been ousted as the head of artificial intelligence firm OpenAI by the company’s board, which said it had lost confidence in his ability to lead the company.
The board said Mr Altman had not been “consistently candid with his communications”, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.
The 38-year-old helped launch OpenAI, which is behind the ChatGPT bot.
Mr Altman had become one of the most high-profile figures in the industry.
In a statement the board said it was grateful for Mr Altman’s contributions but that members believed new leadership was necessary.
“The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI,” the company said, citing “a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities”.
It is not clear what he is alleged to not have been candid about.
On social media, Mr Altman wrote that he had loved his time at the company.
“It was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. Most of all I loved working with such talented people,” he wrote.
According to OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, it all took place over hastily-organised Google Meet video conference calls.
Mr Brockman – who was himself dismissed from the board a few minutes later and then resigned from the company – said both men were “shocked and saddened” by the news.