Lauren Good: I'm Lauren Goode. I'm a senior writer at WIRED.
Zoe Schiffer: I'm Zoe Schieffer, WIRED's business and industry director.
Michael Calore: Ok. I'd like to start today by going back a year to November 2023 with an event we call the Blip.
Lauren Good: Blip. We don't just refer to it as the Blip. That's actually the internal phrase used at OpenAI to describe some of the most chaotic three to four days in that company's history.
[archival audio], OpenAI, one of the top players in artificial intelligence, has gone into disarray,
[archival audio], One of the greatest corporate results ever,
[archival audio], Today's news on Wall Street includes surprising developments in the world of artificial intelligence,
Zoe Schiffer: It actually started this Friday afternoon, November 17, when company CEO Sam Altman received what was the most surprising, shocking, and difficult news of his professional career.
[archival audio], The shocking dismissal of former boss Sam Altman,
[archival audio], His firing sent shock waves through Silicon Valley.,
Zoe Schiffer: It said the board of OpenAI, which was a non-profit at the time, had lost confidence in it. Despite the fact that the company is performing incredibly well in every way, he is out. He will no longer lead the company.
Michael Calore: He has been effectively fired from the company he founded.
Zoe Schieffer: Yes. This immediately sets off a chain reaction of events. His co-founder and company president Greg Brockman resigned in solidarity. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says that Sam Altman is indeed going to join Microsoft and lead an advanced AI research team there. Then we see almost the entire staff at OpenAI sign a letter saying, “Wait, wait, wait. If Sam's gone, we're going too.”
[archival audio], Out of these 700 employees, about 500-
[archival audio], , OpenAI's popular CEO Sam Altman threatens to step down if board abruptly fires him,
Zoe Schiffer: Eventually this tense conversation takes place between Sam Altman and the board of directors, and ultimately the board installs CTO Mira Muratti as interim CEO. Then shortly thereafter, Sam is able to reach an agreement with the board and he returns as CEO and the board immediately looks different, with Brett Taylor and Larry Summers joining, Adam D'Angelo remaining, And the rest of the board members leave.