Tech leaders 'surprised' by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman's departure

OpenAI, the company that created the AI chatbot ChatGPT, faced an unprecedented crisis when it fired CEO Sam Altman. Everyone in the tech world was surprised, but the sudden resignation of co-founder and president Greg Brockman hours after Altman's ouster was a bombshell.

Tech leaders reacted to recent developments at OpenAI, saying they were "shocked" and "saddened" and wondering what would happen now given that OpenAI's two most senior people have resigned.

Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, a vacation rental platform operator, said both Altman and Brockman have his support. He stressed that the OpenAI team "deserved better" following their surprising departures.

"Sam Altman and Greg Brockman have my full support. I’m saddened by what’s transpired. They, and the rest of the OpenAI team, deserve better," he wrote on X.

Aaron Levie, the co-founder and CEO of Box, an enterprise cloud company, criticised OpenAI, saying it was "not your standard startup leadership shakeup".

"...10,000’s of startups are building on OpenAI, and have assumed a certain degree of technical velocity and commercial stability. This instantly changes the structure of the industry," Levie tweeted.

"I'm stunned by this. OpenAI firing Sam. Feels like Apple firing Steve Jobs. Who has the real story? Please, we need to know!" Chris Anderson tweeted.

He stated that it was almost impossible to imagine OpenAI without Altman and Brockman. "They made AI finally mainstream after years of it never happening. I can't imagine what will happen next," he said.

TED chief Chris Anderson said he was "surprised" by the OpenAI board's dismissal of Altman. He drew a parallel to the firing of Apple boss Steve Jobs in 1985 after a power struggle with the company's board of directors.

OpenAI on Altman's Firing

Altman was fired as the CEO and co-founder of the company as the "OpenAI board lost confidence in his ability to lead".

In a statement, OpenAI said that Altman's "departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities".