Jason Li – Feb 29, 2024
Madison, WI — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, for potentially misleading the company’s investors, reported by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
Regulators from the SEC sent a subpoena to the company in December, and have contacted current and former employees to obtain internal records. This investigation is following the drama between Altman and the board of directors at OpenAI, where Altman was fired as CEO and ousted from the board.
The board abruptly fired Altman in November, citing “concerns about Altman’s leadership” and a “‘misalignment’ of the profit versus nonprofit adherents at the company.” OpenAI later issued a statement on the matter, with the following excerpt.
“Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that 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.”
In a flurry of events, which includes (1) the resignation of the company’s co-founder and president, (2) Microsoft hiring Altman and the former president to lead its own AGI development, and (3) 738 of OpenAI’s 770 employees signing an open letter urging the board to resign, Altman ultimately returned as CEO and a new board was agreed to be formed.
The new board has commissioned a legal review of the events surrounding Altman’s ouster, which is expected to be completed in a few weeks.
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and will be edited as necessary.