OpenAI Co-Founder Greg Brockman Resigns Shortly After CEO Sam Altman's Firing

Greg Brockman, co-founder and president of OpenAI, has resigned, just hours after the ChatGPT maker said it fired CEO Sam Altman, sending shockwaves across the tech world.

In the latest post on X, Greg Brockman posted: Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today.

Let us first say thank you to all the incredible people who we have worked with at OpenAI, our customers, our investors, and all of those who have been reaching out.

We too are still trying to figure out exactly what happened. Here is what we know:

- Last night, Sam got a text from Ilya asking to talk at noon Friday. Sam joined a Google Meet and the whole board, except Greg, was there. Ilya told Sam he was being fired and that the news was going out very soon.

- At 12:19pm, Greg got a text from Ilya asking for a quick call. At 12:23pm, Ilya sent a Google Meet link. Greg was told that he was being removed from the board (but was vital to the company and would retain his role) and that Sam had been fired. Around the same time, OpenAI published a blog post.

- As far as we know, the management team was made aware of this shortly after, other than Mira who found out the night prior.

The outpouring of support has been really nice; thank you, but please don't spend any time being concerned. We will be fine. Greater things coming soon.

In a statement posted to X, Brockman said he was "very proud of what we have all built together since we started in my apartment eight years ago."

"We have been through tough and great times together, accomplishing so much despite all the reasons it should have been impossible. But based on today's news, I quit," he said.

He added, "Genuinely wishing you all nothing but the best. I continue to believe in the mission of creating a safe artificial general intelligence (AGI) that benefits all of humanity."

Previously, OpenAI announced that Altman was fired as the company's CEO, saying he "lost confidence in his ability to lead." The company further said that Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati will serve as interim CEO until she finalizes a permanent CEO after conducting a formal search.

Confirming the news, Altman addressed X and said: "I loved my time at OpenAI. It was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. Most of all I loved working with such talented people. Will have more to say about what's next later."

The shocking resignations of Altman and Brockman came amid rising deepfake cases in India, where several Bollywood actors, including Rashmika Mandanna, Katrina Kaif, and Kajol, fell victim to the threat.

Backed by substantial funding from Microsoft, OpenAI launched its chatbot ChatGPT last November, kick-starting the generative AI trend. The software quickly became one of the world's fastest-expanding applications.