OpenAi Saga Part 4: CEO Sam Altman’s fire and unbearable finally announced

Feature Image: Studio Ghibli Recreation of the famous photo of Mira Murati (left), Sam Altman (standing), Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever (right), chatgpt (Duh)

Do you remember that Sam Altman was expelled from Openai in November 2023 and then… When he was hired by Microsoft and then… Openai was restored in less than a week? I have written three articles about this drama between Madness and Oh My Woodness, since then. If I had caught you everything about Openai and AI, it would have taken a book. (First, if you read this story, your relationship with Chatgpt or similar chatbot has changed significantly since 2023. You probably scattered your attention to read my article in full and you will go to the chatbot to ask for a summary LOL))

In any case…..

Now, a year later, we finally have a little clarity – for more than a year, including Sam Altman himself, for more than 250 interviews in the story for more than a year, Wall Street Journal correspondent Keach Hagey’s new reports! The interview is finally shouting to the good people in the hard fork podcast, which gives me a very needed closing (dich)!

Tweet above: Sam Altman confirms the reality of the book

So, without further ado, what happened in reality, what has changed since then, and how everyone regrets everything … But at the same time it gets rich?

Chapter 1: What happened since then (and why is it even more important)

Since the week after Sam’s firing, since it was withdrawn in November 2023, it is not comprehensive about what has happened in that world.

1. The Board was rearranged. Bret Taylor, Larry Summers and Adam D’Engelo became new adults in the room. Everyone promised to work on “governance” (LOL).
2. The investigation confirmed the vibrations. A Law Office (Wilmerhale – not to boast, but many UWC graduates work here. UWC is of course the education system that educates Mira Murati and was caused by the ignition of Altman, who was hired by Openai. The new Board accepted the findings. In fact, both the former board and the new committee had the same facts;
3. Key people left. Ilya Sutskever (founding partner and chief scientist) and Mira Murati (CTO) left Openai for their own initiatives in May and September 2024. Ilya now reached a valuation of $ 30 billion, Safe Superintelligigence Inc. While Mira made a new attempt, Mira founded Thinking Machines Lab, which aims to valuation of $ 9B with a valuation of $ 1 billion.
4. Altman participated in the board of directors again. Because of course he did it.
5. Openai proceeded with full vapor. The tender proposal (where the employees took some stocks) was passed. Sam’s old state as CEO, “after Chaos, a valuation leap between approximately $ 30 billion to $ 90 billion” coincided “. Openai is still the memory of the Ai ball and Sam Altman continues to be a poster child.
6. Openai is trying to throw away the non -profit origins. The company is lobbying to loosen the governance shackles imposed by the non -profit -oriented parent – because you know, it is really hard to scaze capitalism when you still report to a technically non -profit mission. At this point, no one is still deceived about the Openai profit mode.
7. Elon Musk trains from the edges. Musk (one of the Founding Partner of Openai to renew your memory) offered to buy Openai for $ 97.4 billion, which Altman rejected, Openai’s “not for sale”, but the point was specified. Musk is of course busy dealing with “reshaping” to close the agreement of the entire US government.
8. AI is doing the main current at the Breakneck speed. Chatgpt is basically the new Google for a large part of the population, and recently poured rocket fuel into the adoption curve (with the ability to create local image creating like 2 pictures that you can see above). Everyone from students to Startups usually usually uses it as a big deal.

CHAPTER 2: So what caused Sam Altman’s fire?

Thanks to Keach Hagey’s new book in a few weeks, we finally took a look at the whole (ish) story – record players. Unlike the popular belief at that time (AGI is approaching !!!!), really dead About false communication in a fast -moving industry, about personalities and interpersonal dynamics. Still, the line was money.

• Ilya and Mira were instrumental Many times before he firing Sam’s behavior. Ilya has experienced important problems about how Sam has been approaching security/super alignment research for years. Regardless of Ilya, Mira came to the board with screenshots that they saw as patterns of toxic behaviors (apparently brought to Sam), for example, describing what she wanted to hear and returned to her words behind her backs; Or with Greg Brockman, who has to report about a part of his destructive tendency to Mira. Both Ilya and Mira were the best dogs in Openai, one founder/main researcher, the other chief technology officer, so the Board of Directors trusted Sam’s decisions. A member of the Board of Directors personally experienced this toxic behavior model (Probably Helen Toner published an anthropically a research article with a more positive view than its opponent)
• They regret immediately. Both Mira and Ilya expressed their regrets almost overnight. As Mira said, he thought that the board of directors would take Sam to Sam instead of changing him with him. If you value organizational harmony, it is definitely a bad look. Ilya also did not understand the extent to which the next thing would be…
• The employees were almost completely with Sam. From where? Not only because it is charismatic and strong, but because his own salary days will be in danger. At that time, the low strike price ($ 30 billion for existing employees) and a tender proposal worth $ 90 billion is the valuation company line. If Sam was fired, he was brainless for everyone that the proposal would disappear. In other words, they had to make a choice between dealing with toxic leadership and losing millions of people. This rock and a difficult place stuck – guess which one chose
• The rest is history. Sam has become old. Ilya and Mira left immediately. And since then many Openai influential people have been separated.

CHAPTER 3: Why Cleaning Now?

The book also showed some important details about the big question in everyone’s mind, which is probably: why now? Why not then? It was a very hidden and confusing fire. Wilmerhale and the new Board still does not know why it was fired in the first place after many reports about the subsequent separation of the Key Openai people, even after the new findings. And finally we have some answers about why.

• Sam did not want to talk at the beginning For the book, but finally did it. From where? Probably because He should think he might have lost a little war, but he won the war. If you remember, in March 2023, more than 1000 influential people in the AI ​​community called AI to slow down a letter, especially by some competitors such as Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak. It is safe to say that AI does not slow down a lice, but also that its development is one of the most important technology stories of the last 2-3 years. The industry collected more than 150 billion as a whole and more than 20 billion in the first 2 months of 2025. Elon Musk, of course, continued to find the X-Ai letter (LOL) at the same time, and in March 2025 he bought X (formerly twitter), probably to help with newly profitable and absolutely over-company. So – 1-0 for acceleration experts against the first people in AI.

• Sam wants to be remembered as one of the wonders During his fire, many people do not know Sam except for a niche community in technology. And now, everyone is. According to Keach Hagey, Sam wants to be important. Together with Edison and Oppenheimer, he thinks as one of the great men of history. In the book, Sam told a meeting that Openai was too early to tell the story of Openai. So in a way, he thinks that his participation as a whole with Openai and even AI is not the whole story. The gift goes far beyond AI – as he implies in it, he thinks on the scale of national identity and economic systems. American Equality trial here.

CHAPTER 4: So what about now?

I feel that I finally understand everything. It looks like the same features that make Sam so effective to collect money and push the product. Really hard To work or trust. It is not a coincidence that every great player in the AI ​​community has some kind of scattered disintegration with the man, including his own sister (I thought it was remarkable to show that his sister sued him).

Nevertheless, at the end of the day, it continued rapidly from the whole incident. The Board regrets how they fired him. Ilya and Mira regret that they trigger chaos. Employees felt confined by values ​​and financial reversal. In the meantime, Sam … wins again.

The governance experiment failed. The Board had to act as a weight against Sam’s uncontrolled power. However, when the push came, the company came with the founder. As they always do. TA non -profit structure had to protect humanity from institutional over -access. Instead, he entered the cave under the pressures it was built to resist.

So what will happen now? We went back to the place we started – in Sam Altman, Openai chasing AGI is trying to stay on the wooden and watch the rest of our edges. Only now we know more about what is falling and how fragile the entire installation is actually.

Openai had to be structured differently. Instead, he played like all other Silicon Valley drama. He gained strength. Made money. And the man who believed that he built the future did not just survive – became inevitable.

Boom. Complete.