or The TED AI Show interview published Tuesday afternoon with former OpenAI board member Helen Toner reveals new details about the company's efforts to download billionaire CEO and co-founder Sam Altman and why she “just couldn't believe” what he was saying.
In November 2023, ChatGPT OpenAI creator board Fired Altman after determining that he was “not consistently truthful in his communications.” Days after the move, 95% of the company signed a letter threatening to leave if Altman was not reinstated.
Altman ended his job back less than a week after he was fired, and he remains CEO of OpenAI today, but one question remained after the attempted ouster: Why exactly did the board move to fire him in the first place?
In the podcast, Toner, a director of research strategy at Georgetown University, said board members reached a point where they couldn't trust Altman.
Toner alleged that Altman was “withholding information, misrepresenting things that were going on at the company” and “outright lying to the board” for years.
Helen Toner. Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Vox Media
Toner gave specific examples, first saying that when ChatGPT came out in November 2022, the board learned about the release via Twitter — they didn't know it was coming out ahead of time.
What is *really* going on in OpenAI? Former board member @hlntnr and hosts @bilawalsidhu a peek behind the curtain—plus the future of government regulation of AI. Listen to The TED AI Show at @AmazonMusic or wherever you get your podcasts: https://t.co/wZh1JsVy7m pic.twitter.com/kc31ElaZiC
— TED Talks (@TEDTalks) May 28, 2024
Toner said Altman also did not tell the board that he “owned” the OpenAI Startup Fund, a $175 million fund for early-stage artificial intelligence companies. His ownership contradicted his claim that he was “an independent board member with no financial interest in the company,” according to Toner.
Fund website read that “OpenAI itself is not an investor” at the time of writing.
Toner also accused Altman of giving the board “inaccurate information about the few formal security processes the company had in place” and that the board didn't know how well the company's AI security features were working or any changes. that should have been done to you.
The leading OpenAI security researchers have left the company recently; OpenAI shared the group they lead and created a new security team this week led by Altman.
Connected: Now that OpenAI's Superalignment Team has disbanded, who's stopping AI from going rogue?
Two OpenAI executives also shared with the board that they didn't think Altman was the right person to lead the company, sharing screenshots and documentation revealing a “toxic” atmosphere.
“All four of us who fired him came to the conclusion that we just couldn't believe the things Sam was telling us,” Toner said. “That's a completely powerless place to be as a board, especially one that's supposed to provide independent oversight of the company, not just help the CEO raise more money.”
When asked why 95% of OpenAI staff wanted Altman back at the helm, Toner said the situation could have been portrayed to employees as Altman returning or the company falling apart.
OpenAI responded to Toner's statements by saying it conducted an “extensive review” of the board's attempt to fire Altman and found that the decision was “not based on concerns about the safety or security of the product, the pace of development, OpenAI's finances or its statements to investors, customers or business partners.”
The oath of giving announced on Tuesday that Altman has pledged to give away most of his fortune.