At a plenary meeting on Thursday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman denied reports that he took a “giant equity stake” in the company, calling that information “simply not true,” according to a person who was present.
Altman and chief financial officer Sarah Friar said in the meeting, which was conducted via video, that investors had raised concerns that Altman did not own shares in the high-value artificial intelligence company she co-founded nearly nine years ago, the person asked said. not to be named because the gathering was for employees only.
Regarding the potential acquisition of an equity stake, Altman said, “There are no current plans here,” the person said.
OpenAI President Bret Taylor told CNBC in a statement that while the board has talked about the issue, there are no specifics on the table.
“The board has had discussions about whether it would be beneficial to the company and our mission to compensate Sam with equity, but no specifics have been discussed or decisions made,” Taylor said.
The meeting late Thursday followed the board’s decision to consider restructuring the company into a for-profit business, according to a separate person with knowledge of the matter. If the change happens, the nonprofit division will remain as a separate entity, said the person, who asked not to be identified because no plans have been finalized.
While executives consider the future of OpenAI, key executives continue to walk out the door.
On Wednesday, three executives announced their departures. OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, who briefly served as interim CEO, said she would step down after six and a half years. Later in the day, research chief Bob McGrew and Barret Zoph, vice president of research, said they were leaving the company.
In an interview Thursday at Italian Tech Week, Altman said, “I think this will be a great transition for everyone involved, and I hope that OpenAI will be stronger for it, as we are for all our transitions.”
Altman said the departures were not related to the company’s possible restructuring, 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 it, our board has, for almost a year regardless, as we think about what it takes to get to the next stage. But I think it’s just about people being ready for new chapters of their lives and a new generation leadership”.
Murat he wrote in a note to the company that he is “leaving because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration.” He said he would focus on ensuring a “smooth transition”.
Before Thursday’s moves, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever and former security leader Jan Leike announced their departures in May. Co-founder John Schulman said last month he was leaving to join rival Anthropic.
OpenAI, which is powered by Microsoftis currently seeking a funding round that would value the company at more than $150 billion, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. Thrive Capital is leading the round and plans to invest $1 billion, while Tiger Global plans to participate as well.
While OpenAI has been in hyper-growth mode since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, it has also been fraught with controversy and executive departures, with some current and former employees worried that the company is growing too fast to operate safely.
Altman was fired in November, before being quickly reinstated. Almost all OpenAI employees signed an open letter saying they would quit in response to the board’s action. Days later, Altman returned to the company and Murati from interim CEO returned to the role of CTO.
CLOCK: Check on Altman
