Firing Of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Spurs Debate Among Silicon Valley CEOs

Over a hundred Silicon Valley CEOs are part of a secret WhatsApp group chat, which went berserk following Sam Altman's ouster from OpenAI, according to a report by The New York Times.

Altman's shock firing has been subject to a lot of speculations, with former OpenAI director Reid Hoffman claiming he still has no idea why Altman was sacked as the CEO of the American AI company.

Altman's Silicon Valley counterparts also took to the private WhatsApp group to speculate about why the top executive was unceremoniously removed from the CEO position.

"Sam is out," one person reported in the group chat on November 17, after the OpenAI board announced CEO Sam Altman had been fired and would be replaced by interim CEO Mira Murati.

Events that led to Sam Altman's Ouster as OpenAI CEO

While the top management attributed Altman's ouster to him not being "completely candid" with the board in a statement, no one seemed to know the real reason behind his firing.

The Times reported that the WhatsApp group was soon flooded with messages and speculations surrounding Altman's dismissal.

The WhatsApp group reportedly includes tech moguls like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Dropbox chief Drew Houston. Just days after being ousted from the company, Altman was reinstated as OpenAI CEO. However, it is still unclear what he might have done to get the chop.

In a separate statement announcing Altman's return as CEO, OpenAI chairman Bret Taylor said the company has appointed lawyers from WilmerHale to "conduct an effective and timely review" of the events that led to Altman's firing.

Meanwhile, OpenAI's biggest investor, Microsoft, was reportedly asking the same question. As Altman was being sacked, Microsoft's chief technology officer Kevin Scott reportedly received a call from OpenAI's chief technology officer Mira Murati.

If rumours making the rounds online are anything to go by, Murati told Scott that the OpenAI board is on the verge of announcing Altman's firing and appointing her as the interim chief.

Scott then reportedly asked someone at Microsoft's Redmond-based headquarters to get the company's CEO Satya Nadella out of a meeting he was having with top executives.

When a shocked Nadella reportedly asked Murati about the reason behind the board's decision, Murati is said to have no answers. So, Nadella called OpenAI's lead independent director Adam D'Angelo to figure out what Altman could have done.

Nadella reportedly tried to figure out why the board made such an abrupt decision but to no avail. "Was there anything nefarious?" he asked. D'Angelo reportedly just replied "No".

In a recent interview with Trevor Noah, Altman said he was "obviously upset" by OpenAI's decision but the confusion was his "dominant emotion".