It’s been a year since artificial intelligence startup OpenAI unleashed its first generative AI tool, the prominent language model-based chatbot ChatGPT. While the technology has had a successful first year, it has also been a bit of a roller coaster with many technological advancements, unexpected challenges, and some boardroom drama.
Despite its many controversies, the company behind ChatGPT has continued to develop and expand its capabilities. Users have already adapted it to create content, assist with coding, provide writing support, and even act as virtual friendsfriends. The tool has already amassed over 100 million monthly active users and continues to see rapid adoption across the globe.
This week, however, the company found itself amid significant turmoil after the surprise ouster of CEO Sam Altman. Altman was sacked by the previous board on Friday and moved to Microsoft to help lead their research into AI after just ten days as CEO. The turmoil at the company caused employees to threaten mass resignations if Altman and President Greg Brockman were not reinstated.
Ultimately, the company decided to bring Altman back and give him the title of CEO. In a blog post, he said he was “thrilled” to return to his former position and thanked the previous board for their work at the company. He also said that Mira Murati would continue as the CTO.
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Altman’s return to the CEO role will put him at the center of the company’s ongoing push into generative AI. The company recently announced that it will launch a platform called Generative Adversarial Networks that will allow researchers to change the algorithm that powers a machine learning system to train it in new ways. The goal is to develop more advanced AI systems to understand natural language better and create more complex, realistic images like video games or computer animations.
Murati is a seasoned engineer who joined OpenAI in 2016 after working at Leap Motion, a tech firm that built a motion sensor to track hand and finger movements on PCs. She worked on software and hardware engineering teams at the startup.
She has since been instrumental in developing ChatGPT and other AI tools for OpenAI. She has been a driving force behind the company’s efforts to bring more transparency and accountability to its research and its efforts in building AI for social impact.
Murati will also continue to serve on the company’s initial board. Other members include Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Quora co-founder Adam D’Angelo. The board will add more members in the future, including one female director. This is the first time women have made up over half of the new board at a Silicon Valley tech company. This is a welcome change as the tech industry struggles to address the lack of gender diversity in its leadership ranks.