Cointime

Download App
iOS & Android

Sam Altman rejoins OpenAI board, following investigation

Validated Media

Sam Altman has returned to the OpenAI board, following a whirlwind series of events in November last year, where he was initially let go from the company, only to be reinstated within days.

According to a statement published on March 8, Altman has been brought back on to the OpenAI board of directors alongside three new members, including former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, former EVP and General Counsel at Sony Corporation Nicole Seligman, and chair of Instacart, Fidji Simo.

Just four months ago, Altman was ousted from the board and briefly dismissed from his role as the company's chief executive officer.

In November 2023, Cointelegraph reported that the OpenAI board fired Altman for allegedly being “not consistently candid in his communications with the board.”

However, employees of the company were not happy with the decision, with 505 of the 700 employees signing a letter to the board demanding that they resign. 

In a separate statement on the same day, OpenAI announced that the law firm WilmerHale had interviewed several members of the board and scrutinized over 30,000 documents. 

It was noted that the previous board had not anticipated the extent to which the sudden decision to let Altman go would destabilize the company.

Bret Taylor, chair of the OpenAI board, confirmed that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman are still the preferred choices to lead the company.

“We have unanimously concluded that Sam and Greg are the right leaders for OpenAI.”

Meanwhile, on March 6, OpenAI released a series of emails between its board members and Elon Musk regarding Musk's desire to transform the company into a “for-profit” entity.

This follows a lawsuit against OpenAI filed by Musk on Feb. 29 over an alleged breach in the original agreement to make AI breakthroughs “freely available to the public” through a multibillion-dollar partnership with Microsoft.

Musk’s suit requested that OpenAI revert back to its principles as an open-source company while requesting an injunction to prevent the for-profit exploitation of artificial general intelligence (AGI) technology.

Comments

All Comments

Recommended for you

  • A Total of 37,212.18 DMD Permanently Burned Over the Past 7 Days

    July 9, 2026 — According to the latest on-chain data released by DMDAO, a total of 37,212.18 DMD has been permanently burned over the past seven calendar days through the protocol's predefined trading and wealth management burn mechanisms.

  • Whale Transfers 1,133 BTC to Coinbase Prime, Valued at $71.48 Million

    According to Onchain Lens monitoring, a whale transferred 1,133 BTC from Coinbase to Coinbase Prime through an intermediary wallet, valued at $71.48 million.

  • U.S. AI Chip Stocks Decline Before Market Open, Intel Falls Over 3%

    On July 7, U.S. AI chip stocks experienced widespread declines before the market opened. Intel dropped over 3%, while AMD, Qualcomm, and NXP fell more than 2%. TSMC, Broadcom, and Tesla decreased by over 1%, and NVIDIA declined by 0.7%.

  • China's Central Bank Increases Gold Reserves for the 20th Consecutive Month

    As of the end of June, China's gold reserves stood at 75.44 million ounces (approximately 2,346.446 tons), an increase of 480,000 ounces (about 14.93 tons) from the end of May, which reported 74.96 million ounces (approximately 2,331.52 tons). This marks the 20th consecutive month of gold accumulation.

  • China's Foreign Exchange Reserves in June at $341.6262 Billion

    On July 7, China's foreign exchange reserves for June stood at $341.6262 billion, a decrease of $26 billion from the end of May, representing a decline of 0.75%, with expectations set at $343.2 billion.

  • U.S. Storage Stocks Drop Pre-Market, SanDisk and Micron Down Over 4%

    On July 7, U.S. storage concept stocks collectively fell in pre-market trading. Western Digital dropped over 5%, SanDisk and Micron Technology fell over 4%, Seagate Technology declined over 3%, Rambus fell over 2%, and SMI fell over 1%.

  • U.S. Stocks in Optical Communication Sector Drop Pre-Market

    On July 7, stocks in the optical communication sector of the U.S. market collectively fell pre-market. Astera Labs dropped over 4%, while Marvell Technology, Credo Technology, and AXT Inc. fell more than 3%. Tower Semiconductor, MaxLinear, Corning, Applied Optoelectronics, GlobalFoundries, Lumentum, and Qorvo all declined by more than 2%. Coherent, Nokia, Amphenol, and Broadcom dropped over 1%.

  • Pre-market Decline in U.S. Storage Stocks

    In pre-market trading, U.S. storage concept stocks experienced a widespread decline, with Micron Technology falling by 4.8%, SanDisk dropping over 4%, Corning down more than 2%, and Intel decreasing by over 3%.

  • Two Departments: Support for Reinsurance Institutions to Increase Capital and Issue Supplementary Capital Tools

    On July 7, the National Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau and the Shanghai Municipal Government released several measures to accelerate the construction of the Shanghai International Reinsurance Center. Among these measures, they proposed to enhance the quality and efficiency of the reinsurance industry, support reinsurance institutions in increasing capital and expanding shares, and issuing supplementary capital tools to improve the capacity for internal capital accumulation and external capital supplementation, thereby strengthening the reinsurance industry's capabilities. The initiative aims to guide the insurance industry to focus on major national projects, strategic emerging industries, and livelihood security, consolidating insurance and reinsurance underwriting capabilities to enhance risk protection levels. It also supports reinsurance institutions in leveraging their professional technical advantages to assist the insurance industry in reducing risk.

  • Sources: Saudi Arabia Plans to Expand Oil Pipeline to Red Sea, Increasing Capacity by 2 Million Barrels Daily to Bypass Strait of Hormuz

    On July 7, five informed sources revealed that Saudi Arabia is considering expanding the crude oil pipeline capacity to its western coast on the Red Sea, allowing Saudi Arabia and its neighbors to transport more oil without passing through the Strait of Hormuz. This east-west pipeline, built in the early 1980s, has gained strategic importance since the outbreak of the Iran war in February and the disruption of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The pipeline can deliver up to 7 million barrels of crude oil per day to the Red Sea port. The CEO of Saudi Aramco stated in May that approximately 2 million barrels are supplied to west coast refineries, while about 5 million barrels are for export. Sources indicate that Saudi Arabia is in preliminary discussions with some neighboring countries regarding the pipeline expansion, aiming to add about 2 million barrels of pipeline capacity per day. It remains unclear whether Aramco's planned expansion involves upgrading existing infrastructure or constructing new pipelines. One source mentioned that the expansion plan also includes a smaller refined oil pipeline. Two sources indicated that the expansion scale could range from 1 million to 2 million barrels per day, with refined oil also being considered. Another source stated that the project would take several years and cost billions of dollars, requiring adjustments to Saudi crude pricing mechanisms.