- Multiple versions of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have emerged from reporting of his firing and rehiring.
- There's the Machiavellian politician, and/or the smart CEO-tactician.
Who is the real Sam Altman?
It's still a vital question after 38-year-old OpenAI CEO was ousted by his board in November.
After Altman was fired and rehired over a chaotic five days, insiders have been sharing their version of events.
And there seem to be two wildly different version of Altman emerging: Unassailable hero and/or scheming jerk. Which one is he — and is he both?
One version: Altman, the cunning politician
One version casts Altman in a particularly negative light.
This version begins with an initiating incident: the board's original decision to fire the OpenAI CEO for, it said, not being "consistently candid in his communications with the board."
This was opaque, and the board members outwardly did not give more detail, allowing speculation to fill the gap. Reports that have emerged since do seem to lend credence to the board's statement, however.
For example, Altman tried to oust board member and Georgetown University academic Helen Toner over a research paper she co-authored, per The New York Times.
Toner's paper appeared to criticize OpenAI's fast release of ChatGPT, while praising a rival AI firm, Anthropic.
"Anthropic was showing its willingness to avoid exactly the kind of frantic corner-cutting that the release of ChatGPT appeared to spur," the paper co-authored by Toner says.
Apparently needled, Altman took a divide-and-conquer approach. He reportedly told other board members that one of their own — effective altruism proponent Tasha McCauley — thought Toner had to go because of the paper. Per the Times, McCauley said this was "absolutely false."
Then there's the question of whether Altman's reinstatement leaves OpenAI cofounder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever out in the cold.
Reminder: Sutskever was part of the original board that instigated Altman's firing. He later u-turned and apologized publicly for his involvement.
OpenAI employees told Business Insider that, following Altman's reinstatement, Sutskever had not been seen at the company's office in San Francisco over the last week, with one person suggesting that "there are a lot of other people who are picking up and taking that responsibility that historically Ilya had."
As Insider's Lakshmi Varanasi reported, Altman hasn't commented on reports he was a tough character to work with.
Another version: Talented doer and CEO
It's notable just how much support Altman commands from those working with him, and other CEOs.
When fired, most OpenAI employees threatened to quit the company and follow their exiled CEO to Microsoft if he wasn't reinstalled as the man in charge. This may have been a stunt — several of them didn't actually want to go — but this kind of loyal support is pretty unusual. With Altman's reinstatement, most of OpenAI's C-suite have also stayed put.
Elsewhere, he has the confidence of Microsoft boss Satya Nadella, who immediately offered him a job after his firing; ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who described Altman as "a hero" of his; and, seemingly, most of Silicon Valley.
It's possible, and even likely, that Altman is both a Machiavellian operator and an inspiring executive. But which version takes precedence is a question that matters, as AI continues to disrupt how we work and study.