Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, two top executives at OpenAI who left the company after a dramatic board meeting Friday, are talking again with board members about returning to the artificial intelligence startup, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
The discussions follow an outcry after Altman, 38, was ousted from his role as OpenAI's CEO a day earlier. Since then, OpenAI's investors and Altman's supporters have pressured the four board members of the startup to bring Altman back, six people with knowledge of the matter said.
Microsoft, which has invested $13 billion in OpenAI, was leading the pressure campaign, one of the people said. OpenAI investors who have expressed support for Altman to be reinstated were also willing to invest if he were to start a new company, something he began discussing almost immediately after he was forced out, people with knowledge of the situation said.
The effort was the latest twist in a fast-moving drama at OpenAI. The San Francisco startup rocked the world last year when it released the chatbot ChatGPT and showed the power of AI, with Altman rapidly becoming the face of the industry. But Friday, OpenAI abruptly announced that its board had removed Altman as CEO.
The ouster caused waves across the tech industry, where Altman is well known not only from OpenAI but from his years leading Y Combinator, the Silicon Valley startup incubator. OpenAI is backed by powerful investors — including Microsoft, Thrive Capital