Sam Altman said in an interview with Time that the OpenAI drama had a “positive effect” on the company. JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images
Sam Altman spoke about the stress surrounding his expulsion from OpenAI in an interview with Time’s editor-in-chief.
He said the experience was extremely painful but strengthened the unity of the organization as a whole.
“It had an extremely positive effect on the company,” Altman told the magazine.
This is a machine translation of an article from our US colleagues at Business Insider. It was automatically translated and checked by an editor.
Just a few weeks after the drama surrounding the leadership position at OpenAI, Sam Altman already had a rosy view of the events. In an interview with Time magazine editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs in December, Sam Altman spoke about his surprise dismissal from OpenAI. In mid-November, the board abruptly fired Altman as CEO and ultimately reinstated him a few days later. “It was very painful for me personally, but I think it was great for OpenAI,” he said in the interview.
And when he was back in office, Altman said OpenAI has never been more united, determined and focused. Altman reported that he never expected this moment to come “so soon.” He predicted that tensions would inevitably arise at some point as OpenAI continues its journey toward artificial general intelligence (breaking latest news).
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breaking latest news is a still hypothetical form of artificial intelligence that has human capabilities such as common sense and consciousness. “I wouldn’t wish it on any enemy. But it had an extremely positive impact on the company,” Altman said.
Altman is “proud” that OpenAI runs without him
In the interview, Altman admitted that he was still coming to terms with what had happened. However, his most important insight was that the central task of a CEO is to hire good employees. “The proudest moment for me in all this craziness was realizing that the leadership team can run the company without me. I can retire because OpenAI will be fine.”
Altman also returned to OpenAI with a new board. This includes, among others, Silicon Valley veteran Bret Taylor and economist and former Harvard president Larry Summers. Quora CEO and co-founder Adam D’Angelo remains a member of the board. And one of the key changes OpenAI introduced after Altman’s return was that the new board can veto the CEO’s decisions.
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In the interview, Altman said he was counting on OpenAI to be independent if there were further controversies in the future. OpenAI’s ability to function in uncertain and stressful moments will be key for the entire world, he said. OpenAI did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
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