Sam Altman sacked: Who is Mira Murati, interim CEO of ChatGPT's OpenAI?

OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT a year ago, said Friday it had dismissed CEO Sam Altman as it no longer had confidence in his ability to lead the Microsoft-backed firm.

Altman, 38, became a tech world sensation with the release of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot with unprecedented capabilities, churning out human-level content like poems or artwork in just seconds.

OpenAI's board said in a statement that Altman's departure "follows a deliberative review process," which concluded "he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities."

"The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI," it added.

Altman's decision last year to release the app paid off in ways he never imagined, catapulting the Missouri-born Stanford dropout to household name stardom.

The launch of ChatGPT ignited an AI race, with contenders including tech giants Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta.

Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and has woven the company's technology into its offerings, including search engine Bing.

Altman has testified before US Congress about AI and spoken with heads of state about the technology, as pressure ramps up to regulate against risks such as AI's potential use in bioweapons, misinformation and other threats.

The statement said the board was "grateful for Sam's many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI. At the same time, we believe new leadership is necessary as we move forward."

Altman would be replaced on an interim basis by Mira Murati, the company's chief technology officer, the statement said.

'Lots of empathy'

OpenAI's board of directors consists of OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo, technology entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology's Helen Toner.

Altman earlier this month led a major developer's conference for OpenAI, announcing a new set of products that were largely met positively in Silicon Valley.

The young CEO on Thursday told AFP he understood some of the worries when it came to how people feel about AI and its disruptive powers.

"(I have) lots of empathy for why anyone would feel, however they feel, about this," he told AFP of the platform that is credited with launching the revolution in generative artificial intelligence (AI).

Altman was speaking on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco where he was swarmed by fans after his appearance, many of whom wanted to take selfies with him.

Who is Mira Murati?

• Born in Albania to Albanian parents and educated in Canada, Mira Murati is a mechanical engineer by training who built a hybrid racecar as an undergraduate student at Dartmouth College.
• While in school, she interned at Goldman Sachs.
• She joined OpenAI in 2018 after stints at Tesla, where she played an important role in the development of the Model X car, and Leap Motion, a start-up that developed a computing system to track hand and finger motions, The New York Times reported.
• Murati spent three years at Tesla as a senior product manager at the EV company.
• Murati was made CTO of OpenAI last year. "Given her long tenure and close engagement with all aspects of the company, including her experience in AI governance and policy, the board believes she is uniquely qualified for the role and anticipates a seamless transition while it conducts a formal search for a permanent CEO," the company said in its statement.
• Murati said she is "honored and humbled" to step into the leadership role at the company following the ouster of Sam Altman, according to a memo she sent to staff reviewed by news agency Bloomberg.
• Murati also urged employees still reeling from the sudden departure of Altman, one of the most prominent figures in the artificial intelligence industry, to focus on their work.
• "We are now at a crucial juncture where our tools are being widely adopted, developers are actively building on our platforms, and policymakers are deliberating on the best ways to regulate these systems," Murati wrote in the memo.
• "This is welcome progress and an opportunity to participate in a future where AI is built and used for good."
• She also said that the company would continue its partnership with Microsoft Corp., its largest investor.
• Murati did not mention Altman by name in the memo.
• Previously, Murati worked as an engineer at a French aerospace company.