In a surprising leadership shakeup, artificial intelligence startup OpenAI has hired former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear as its new CEO just two days after abruptly removing Sam Altman from the CEO role.
Investors caught off guard by sudden leadership change
OpenAI’s board of directors announced late Friday that Altman would be removed from the CEO position, citing a lack of transparency in his communications with the board. They said he “wasn’t always honest” in conversations with them.
The unexpected decision caught OpenAI’s high-profile investors, including Microsoft, Tiger Global, Thrive Capital, and Sequoia Capital, completely off guard. None of those large companies have seats on OpenAI’s board of directors and were not consulted or warned in advance about the plan to oust Altman.
After Friday night’s announcement, shocked investors quickly began working behind the scenes over the weekend to convince the board to reverse its decision and keep Altman in place. However, despite their efforts, the board refused to change course.
Shear brings deep experience scaling startups
To replace Altman, OpenAI has now hired former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear in the top role. Shear resigned from popular live streaming giant Twitch in March after years of rapid growth.
With his deep experience in rapidly growing startups like Twitch and Justin.tv in the past, Shear appears well positioned to guide OpenAI through its current hypergrowth phase. The AI startup became a household name in late 2022 with the launch of its conversational chatbot ChatGPT.
Shear’s familiarity with Altman through his part-time position at startup accelerator Y Combinator, which Altman previously led, is also likely to help smooth the transition during this tumultuous time.
Altman assigned to Microsoft
Although he is no longer CEO of OpenAI, Altman already has his next role lined up. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced plans over the weekend for Altman to lead a new advanced artificial intelligence research team at Microsoft.
This allows Altman to stay closely involved with innovations in the hot field of AI after guiding OpenAI from its nonprofit origins in 2019 to mainstream prominence in 2022, largely due to the viral popularity of ChatGPT.
OpenAI will now turn to Shear to lead the company’s vision, strategy and operations during this critical phase of growth as chatbots and AI continue to gain popularity. His experience in rapidly growing startups positions him well for this challenge at this high-profile startup.
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Categories: Technology
Source: vtt.edu.vn