Mira Murati’s appearance lifted the curtain on Sam Altman’s dismissal

The week leading up to Thanksgiving 2023 was a big time for the AI ​​industry. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was fired from his job at ChatGPT-maker. Did he explain? That Altman “wasn’t always honest in his communications with the board.” Now, through the testimony of the witnesses and the views of the cases in Musk v. Altmanpeople are looking at the concrete behind the spectacular weekend for the first time, most of it is focused on the former CTO Mira Murati.

It was a special occasion in which the rollercoaster of power plays – which seemed to change every hour – took place, in many ways, in the open. The group is not clear blog post announcing Altman’s dismissal was posted on the OpenAI website, which started a laundry list of conspiracy theories reported on X. it was discovered that the influence was said to be an example of lying or negligence on the part of Altman, either about OpenAI’s security measures, about his ownership in the OpenAI foundation fund, or about the release of tools or other things such as ChatGPT.) Other OpenAI managers and AI industry leaders have spoken publicly in support of Altman. An online campaign began among hundreds of OpenAI employees even though they were reluctant to support Altman’s reinstatement, with many posting the words, “OpenAI is nothing without its people.” Rumors spread as thousands of onlookers waited anxiously to hear more. (I read everything from a backpacking trip in Patagonia, with an iPhone notes app (no laptops).

Throughout the process, a proud figure seemed to be everywhere at once: OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. Initially, he was appointed interim CEO, before handing over the position to Emmett Shear. A few days later, Altman was back in charge of the company, and the team that had assembled to oust him left.

Murati publicly supported Altman’s reinstatement and posted online to return to his role at the company. But after a while, reports he realized that he had a serious problem with his removal. He was, in other words, more or less he started internal discussions about the concerns surrounding Altman and help a a lot of information — including videotapes, text messages, and allegations of mismanagement during Altman’s tenure at Y Combinator — to founder Ilya Sutskever, who took his concerns to OpenAI’s board as a 52-page memo. In testimony this week, former board member Helen Toner said Murati and Sutskever’s concerns advanced their team, regarding fraud, Altman’s “refusal” to oversee the board, and his “changes” in board and governance issues.

On November 16, 2023, four members of OpenAI’s board of directors – Toner, Ilya Sutskever, Adam D’Angelo, and Tasha McCauley – signed a joint agreement. document Ending Altman’s job with OpenAI is naming Murati as the new CEO.

Although Murati, by most accounts, played a key role in Altman’s ouster, Murati immediately appeared to shift his support to Altman.

In 78 messages In a 14-hour exchange, between Sunday morning and Monday morning, Murati and Altman discussed at length whether his restoration would be possible and what would happen next. Altman said that D’Angelo, a board member, was “trying to get the board to agree to a configuration” but Altman and Nadella told D’Angelo that “it’s not working and (they) need to start planning plan b.”

Around 2:30am on Monday morning, Altman asked, “can you show the good or the bad? Satya and the others are worried.”

Murati replied, “Too bad. Sam, this is too bad.”

Altman asked to join and Murati said the organization did not want him to join. Altman then texted, “What do you want to make it better? I’m willing to just leave if that helps.

Murati said the board had faith in Altman’s departure from the company, adding, “They explained to me all the reasons and problems you have and why you can’t be great.”

Altman asked why the team “has been saying all week that they want me back.”

Murati replied, “He wants to have a new chief tonight (not me).

Altman asked who, and Murati replied, “The new guy is a regular guy,” according to Shear.

Murati told Altman that he “believes Satya can help with this.”

Between November 17 and 20, Murati and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who was on Altman’s side during the controversy and hired everyone working on OpenAI at Microsoft to work under Altman, also changed number of messages (especially on the one hand, Murati reaches out to Nadella). In one, Murati says that he “does not put a (name) on this,” apparently a words and the board released on Sunday that “the board stands by its decision as the only way to advance and protect OpenAI’s mission,” and that “in short, Sam’s behavior and lack of transparency in dealing with the board interfered with the board’s ability to effectively manage the company as it was mandated to do.”

In a few days, more than 750 OpenAI signed a letter to the OpenAI board, threatening to leave and join a new Microsoft team that will be led by Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman.

He wrote that “the manner in which you suspended Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman from the board has jeopardized this entire project and undermined our work and our company.”

The first person to sign the letter? Say he.

One of the most interesting aspects of the letter is about to end, when the signatories noted to the board that “less than two days after your original decision, you replaced CEO Mira Murati against the wishes of the company.”

But remember: Murati, apparently, told the board that he didn’t want to serve as interim CEO unless the board could “endorse” the decision, according to Toner’s testimony. Toner said Murati “doesn’t seem to understand, willfully or not, that he has an important role to play in making this election legitimate.”

“He was waiting to see which way the wind was blowing, and he didn’t realize it was the wind,” said Toner.

Toner also said that Murati “became unhelpful” and “relentless” after Altman was fired, adding, “He doesn’t seem interested in telling his team that what he discussed with us led to our decision to hire Sam.”

In 78 messages between Murati and Altman, Altman asked if it was time to send a letter from the staff to the board; Murati told him it “doesn’t matter” and that the board members “don’t care if anyone quits,” just that they don’t want “Altman’s hand” in the agi. Altman asked if D’Angelo knew that Murati had also recruited Altman, and he said yes.

Early morning on Monday, November 20, Murat documents Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott that “he is about to retire.” Scott replied, “For real this time?” Murati said, “It seems so. Ilya (Sutskever) signed our petition.”

Later that morning, Murati asked Nadella to “please make public as soon as possible the indications of support for the joint (OpenAI) group, especially bringing this group together? It is very important that we do not lose Demis or Elon researchers.”

More than a year earlier, in a document dated September 30, 2022, Murati wrote a list of complaints about Altman and his management that he appears to have shared directly with him. He wrote that “the constant fear around our projects, people, goals, etc. creates chaos,” and that “we talk about what we look for but in doing what we do we do it all and we do it quickly because we are always forced to change what we need and to balance people and projects.” He also wrote about Altman’s disagreement with the executive on the need for an AI team, and asked that Altman talk to him about his concerns: “I don’t want to know from others…

Murati also stated, in a 2022 document, that “doing what users want is not in OpenAI’s DNA” – that the company’s stated goal was to make $100 million in revenue, and that Altman’s position was that “it didn’t matter how we got to that number, we needed to get there.” Murati suggested that one of Altman’s solutions to the problem is to be “informed” and use legitimate means to bring about the changes he wants.

“I often hear from you two things at the same time, which to me seem to contradict each other: (1) We are not moving fast or some area or person is failing & (2) You do not know what is going on, so maybe you are wrong,” he wrote in a 2022 document.

As part of Murati played in the case in Musk v. Altman this week, he said he stood by his objections to Altman and said his concerns were “management-related … I had a very difficult job to do in a very difficult organization. I was asking Sam to lead, and give clear direction, and not interfere with my ability to do my job.”

Murati may not have been in court, but his testimony – and what was revealed in the text – was among the most memorable.