OpenAI staff demand board resign over Sam Altman sacking

Staff at OpenAI have called on the board of the artificial intelligence company to resign after the shock dismissal of former boss Sam Altman.

In a letter, they question the board’s competence, and accuse it of undermining the firm’s work.

They also demand Mr Altman’s reinstatement.

But Mr Altman now has a job at Microsoft and seems to want to stay. He and Microsoft boss Satya Nadella see OpenAI’s success as vital, he added.

“Satya and my top priority remains to ensure OpenAI continues to thrive,” he tweeted.

“We are committed to fully providing continuity of operations to our partners and customers. The OpenAI/Microsoft partnership makes this very doable.”

The sacking on Friday of a man who is one of the leading figures in artificial intelligence (AI) shocked the tech world.

The letter’s hundreds of signatories, who include senior staff, say they may themselves resign if their demands are not met.

They also state that Microsoft, the biggest investor in OpenAI, has assured them that there are jobs for all OpenAI staff if they want to join the company.

In an interview with CNBC, Mr Nadella said he was open to working with OpenAI or working with the OpenAI employees who come to Microsoft.

“At this point… it’s very, very clear that something has to change around the governance [at OpenAI],” he added, saying the firms would be in dialogue about this.

Evan Morikawa, an engagement manager at OpenAI, posted on X – formerly Twitter – that 743 of the company’s 770 workers had put their names to the letter.