OpenAI announces Sam Altman returns as CEO

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- OpenAI announced late Tuesday that Sam Altman will return as CEO, days after he was dismissed by the board.

"We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers and Adam D'Angelo," it said on X, formerly Twitter.

Altman was fired last week after OpenAI's board of directors said it "no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI."

Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said Monday the company would hire Sam Altman and OpenAI's co-founder Greg Brockman, who had quit after Altman's dismissal, and make them lead an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) research team.

Over 700 of its 770 employees signed an open letter on Monday demanding the board to step down and reinstate Altman and Brockman, or they would leave the company.

After OpenAI's announcement of Altman's return and the new board, Nadella said on X that it is "a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance."

"I love OpenAI, and everything I've done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together," Altman said on X, and he looks forward to returning to OpenAI and building on the strong partnership with Microsoft.