OpenAI announced, on the night of Tuesday 21 to Wednesday 22 November, the return of its co-founder Sam Altman to its head, a few days after his dismissal from the start-up creator of ChatGPT.

"We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam to return to OpenAI as CEO" with changes to the board of directors, including Bret Taylor and Larry Summers and Adam D'Angelo, the company said in a message posted Tuesday night, just after 22 p.m. in California, or 7 a.m. on Wednesday in Paris (6 GMT). "We're working on the details. Thank you for your patience during this time," the startup added in the post.

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.

We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this.

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) November 22, 2023

Sam Altman, whom Microsoft announced on Monday it was hiring, three days after his dismissal from OpenAI, said he had the support of Satya Nadella, the boss of Microsoft, to return to the head of OpenAI.

"With the new board and Satya's support, I look forward to returning to OpenAI and building a strong partnership" with Microsoft, the Silicon Valley star wrote on X.

700 of OpenAI's 770 employees have threatened to quit

On Monday, former Twitch boss Emmett Shear even announced that he had accepted the position of No. 1 at OpenAI on an interim basis.

According to a letter published by several U.S. media outlets, nearly 700 of OpenAI's 770 employees have threatened to quit if 38-year-old Sam Altman does not return.

The release of the first version of ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, kicked off a race for so-called generative artificial intelligence, i.e. capable of creating content (text, images, sounds) on demand in everyday language.

Generative AI is believed to have the potential to transform entire sectors of the economy. It arouses enthusiasm, but also strong concerns about its possible dangers for democracy (massive disinformation) or employment (replaced professions), in particular.

With AFP

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