In the past few weeks, Open AI was in the news a lot and this was because the CEO, Sam Altman, got fired by a board that thought he wasn't competent enough. Speculations flying around also had it that the board had a serious "beef" with him which was why they did all they could to move him out of the position.

2 weeks ago, Sam was reinstated as the CEO and the entire board at Open AI was reshuffled having new members but the already existing chairman, Greg Brockman also stepped down from the position when Sam got fired. 

People have had to ask through the comment section on social media what Altman did exactly and no answers have been gotten. However, recently, according to different sources, Sam had done a terrible act that caused the board to react vehemently towards him. 

What did Sam Altman do? 

Reportedly, new details have surfaced indicating that Altman is an adept strategist within the corporate realm, manipulating individuals and shaping opinions within OpenAI to uphold his position. His tactics have been said to have caused discontent among several individuals within the organization.

Per information obtained from different sources, Altman had scuffles with Helen Toner, an ex board member, Ilya Sutskever, another ex board member, and some other people within the six-member board. 

With Toner, it was a big war. She is a researcher at a Georgetown University-based think tank who authored a paper applauding Anthropic, OpenAI's competitor, for postponing the launch of its chatbot, Claude. Simultaneously, the paper criticized the rushed and hasty release of ChatGPT by OpenAI. Altman contacted Toner regarding the paper, expressing concerns that it might stir issues with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which was already probing OpenAI, according to The New York Times.

It was also reported that Toner proposed composing an apology addressed to OpenAI's board. However, Altman subsequently sent an email directly to OpenAI's executives, informing them that he had reprimanded Toner. 

Altman was considered as manipulative and untruthful when he contacted other members of OpenAI's board, asserting that McCauley, a tech entrepreneur and scientist at the RAND Corporation, desired Toner's removal from the board.

There is more…..

Per the information gotten, that wasn't the only thing Altman did, he was also at loggerheads with Ilya Sutskever who stood as the company's visionary at that time. Ilya had feared that Altman was urging OpenAI to advance technology too quickly while he preferred a more careful approach.

According to Business Insider Africa, Sutskever grew increasingly frustrated with being excluded from making decisions concerning ChatGPT-5 and the strategies to expand both the product and the company. 

Things had reportedly gotten heated when Altman moved a researcher to a position comparable to Sutskever's within the company and the pioneer saw it as a slap to his face. 

Just when we thought it was over

It was reported that Altman didn't have it smooth with some people within the board too. Reportedly, there was a sentiment among individuals involved in the board's discussions that Sam had not been truthful. They were so apprehensive about Altman's methods that when considering his removal, they were determined to keep it a surprise, ensuring that once Sam was informed, he wouldn't attempt to sabotage the board's actions, according to sources familiar with the discussions. 

Several people have earlier insinuated that there must be a misunderstanding within the entire OpenAI team, which resulted in conflicts and disagreements coming to the open. Altman confirmed this by stating that there were genuine clashes between himself and certain board members but he considers it important to learn from this experience and implement those lessons as we progress forward as a team. However, at the same time, he has not addressed the accusations to say whether they are right or wrong.