The board of directors of OpenAI forced out prominent CEO Sam Altman, who became the face of the artificial intelligence boom in the IT sector, the business said in a blog post on Friday afternoon.

The change sparked a reorganization at OpenAI, a trailblazing artificial intelligence startup and creator of the well-known chatbot ChatGPT. The business announced that Mira Murati, who served as OpenAI’s chief technology officer before, has been named acting CEO. The president of the corporation, Greg Brockman, announced his resignation a few hours later.

The business stated that Mr. Altman’s resignation came after a thorough assessment process by the board, which found that he was not always honest in his discussions with the board, making it more difficult for the board to carry out its duties. “The board no longer believes he can lead OpenAI in the future.”

Mr. Altman, 38, is a fascinating character in the tech world and during the past year, he has become one of its most famous leaders. His departure from OpenAI is a startling fall from grace. With the introduction of ChatGPT last autumn, OpenAI set off an A.I. craze across the industry.

Beyond what the board’s statement stated, it was not immediately apparent what factors had contributed to its decision. It was not possible to contact Mr. Altman right away for a response. “I loved my time at openai,” he stated in a post on X, the old Twitter. It changed me personally and, perhaps, the world in some little way. Above all, I enjoyed collaborating with individuals of such skill. will discuss what comes next in more detail later.

Mr. Brockman stated that neither he nor Mr. Altman had notice of the board’s decision in a post on Friday night to X. “What the board did today shocked and saddened Sam and me,” he wrote. “We’re still attempting to determine exactly what transpired as well.”

Mr. Brockman claims that Mr. Altman was fired right away after being invited to participate in a video meeting with the board on Friday at noon. Mr. Brockman stated that he was not present at this board meeting despite holding the position of chairman.

Minutes afterward, he claimed, the board told him that Mr. Altman had been fired.  The board posted something on its blog at around the same time.

A seasoned software entrepreneur, Mr. Altman assisted in founding OpenAI in 2015 with Elon Musk’s financial support. He led the modest San Francisco business into uncharted terrain, becoming a technological leader envied by Silicon Valley heavyweights like Google and Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and supported by billions of dollars by Microsoft.

Additionally, Mr. As the computer industry moved toward artificial intelligence, Altman became a spokesperson for the movement, testifying before Congress and gaining the support of lawmakers and regulators. More than anyone else, Mr. Altman has contributed to the general public’s excitement in artificial intelligence (AI), which many in the field believe to be the biggest technical breakthrough in decades.

At an event in Oakland, California, on Thursday night, Mr. Since artificial intelligence can already create images, videos, sounds, and other forms of art on its own, Altman spoke on the future of art and artists. Without disclosing that he was leaving OpenAI, he repeatedly said that he and the company would work with artists to ensure their futures were bright.

He had appeared earlier in the day with representatives from Google, Meta, and the inventor Laurene Powell Jobs at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit in San Francisco and president of the Emerson Collective.

Mr. Brockman, who co-founded OpenAI with Mr. During a post on X, Altman declared his resignation.

He will continue to serve as president and report to the chief executive, the firm announced earlier in the day. He will also stand down as chairman of the board.

When called, Mr. Brockman refused to provide a statement. He had a key role in establishing OpenAI’s goal and daily operations from the company’s inception.

When ChatGPT debuted in November of last year, hundreds of millions of people were captivated by OpenAI’s capacity to answer questions, write poetry, and engage in conversation about nearly any subject thrown at it.

Following the chatbot’s popularity, generative artificial intelligence (or AI) technologies—which can produce text, graphics, and other material on their own—were adopted by the larger tech sector. These developments have the potential to dramatically revolutionize a multitude of sectors, including email. They are the result of over 10 years of research at Google and OpenAI, digital tutoring, and internet search engines.

It is unknown how Mr. Altman’s departure will affect OpenAI’s negotiations to finish a fresh fundraising round that would value the business at more than $80 billion, roughly quadruple its worth less than a year ago.

However, Microsoft, which has made a $13 billion investment in OpenAI and now owns a 49 percent ownership in the business, is hurting from his exit. Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, presented a massive plan this year to incorporate OpenAI technology into nearly all of the company’s products, including the well-known business software and Bing search engine. He was accompanied by Mr. Altman to a news conference to reveal the intentions.

Microsoft said on Friday afternoon that it will keep up its tight collaboration with OpenAI. In a statement, Mr. Nadella said that Microsoft now has “full access to everything we need to deliver on our innovation agenda and an exciting product road map” thanks to the company’s long-term deal with OpenAI. The business was still dedicated “to our partnership, and to Mira and the team,” he continued.

In the last thirty minutes of trading, Microsoft’s stock price dropped by more than 1 percent on the announcement of Mr. Altman’s departure.

Ms. Murati stated that she had spoken with Mr. Nadella and Microsoft’s chief technical officer, Kevin Scott, on Friday and that they continued to support OpenAI in a message sent to staff members that The New York Times was able to see.

“Developers are actively building on our platforms, policymakers are considering the best ways to regulate these systems, and we are at a critical juncture where our tools are being widely adopted,” she wrote.

Ilya Sutskever, the chief scientist and co-founder of OpenAI, and Adam D’Angelo, the CEO of Quora, are among the distinguished A.I. researchers, tech executives, and specialists in A.I. policy that make up the board of directors. Remarks from the board members could not be obtained in a timely manner.

The announcement stunned both current and former workers of OpenAI. They were talking about Mr. Altman as if he had a lengthy future with the firm as recently as Friday morning. Outside of the corporation, researchers, businesspeople, and investors were all taken aback by the decision made by the OpenAI board, and many rushed to find out why.

One of Mr. Altman’s younger siblings, Jack Altman, who serves as the CEO of the business software startup Lattice, spoke out for his brother on X.

“More importantly that being one of the smartest and strongest people we know, Sam is one of those most caring and compassionate people I know,” he stated profession has ever had. Never have I encountered someone who has helped and encouraged so many others around them as he has. Not a more proud brother could be.