OpenAI’s Sam Altman tells employees he’s not getting ‘huge equity stake’
At an all-hands meeting on Thursday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman denied that there were plans for him to take a “huge equity stake” in the company, calling the report “untrue.” “, according to one attendee.
Altman and chief financial officer Sarah Friar both said at the meeting conducted by video that investors had raised concerns about Altman’s lack of equity in the highly valued artificial intelligence company he co-founded. almost 9 years ago, said the person who asked. cannot be named because the gathering was for employees only.
As for the possibility of acquiring a stake, Altman said, “There are no current plans here,” the person said.
OpenAI President Bret Taylor told CNBC in a statement that although the board discussed the issue, no specific numbers were given.
“The board discussed whether it would be beneficial for the company to require Sam to be compensated in equity, but no specific numbers were discussed,” Taylor said. No decisions have been made.”
The meeting late on Thursday followed the board’s decision to consider restructuring the company into a business for profitaccording to a separate person with knowledge of the matter. If the change occurs, the nonprofit segment would remain a separate entity, said the person, who asked not to be named because no plans have been finalized.
While directors ponder OpenAI’s future, key executives continue to walk out the door.
On Wednesday, three executives announced their departures. OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, who briefly served as interim CEO, said she will leave after six and a half years. Later that day, chief research officer Bob McGrew and Barret Zoph, vice president of research, said they were leaving the company.
In an interview Thursday at Italian Technology Week, Altman said: “I think this will hopefully be a great transformation for everyone involved, and I hope OpenAI will be stronger because it, as we do for all of our transitions.”
Altman said the departure was not related to a possible restructuring of the company, contrary to some media reports.
“Most of the things I saw were also completely wrong,” Altman said at the event in Turin, Italy. “But we’ve been thinking about that, our board, for almost a year now that we’ve been independent, as we think about what’s needed to get to the next stage. But I think this is just that people are ready for new chapters in their lives and a new generation of leaders.”
Murati wrote in a memo to the company that she “left because I wanted to create the time and space to make my own journey of discovery.” She said her focus will be on ensuring a “smooth transition”.
Ahead of Thursday’s move, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever and former safety lead Jan Leike announce their departure in May. Co-founder John Schulman said last month that he was leaving to join rival Anthropic.
OpenAI, powered by Microsoftis currently pursuing a funding round that could value the company at more than $150 billion, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. Strong capital development is leads the round and plans to invest 1 billion USD, and Global Tiger are also planning to participate.
While OpenAI has been in hyper growth mode since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, it has also full of controversy And departure of the executive directorwith some current and former employees concerned that the company is growing too fast to operate safely.
Altman was ousted in November before being quickly reinstated. Almost all OpenAI employees signed an open letter saying they would leave in response to the board’s actions. A few days later, Altman returned to the company and Murati refused The interim CEO returns to the role of CTO.
CLOCK: Altman Review
