The renowned AI startup OpenAI announced today that it had fired co-founder and CEO Sam Altman. The board lost confidence in him, the company said in a statement. In a surprise move, it appointed 34-year-old engineer Mira Murati as the company’s interim CEO. Murati is behind one of the world’s most talked-about artificial intelligence products, ChatGPT, a generative chatbot that can create text and images using its neural networks.
In a video message to the company, she thanked the employees for their support and vowed to continue to work on “some of the most ambitious AI projects in the world.” “With your help, we will build a new generation of powerful, ethical AI that benefits all of humanity,” she said.
The move was a shock as Altman, an investor in companies like Facebook and Tesla, strongly advocated for his company’s products over the past week. During the company’s first developer conference, he was the main speaker showcasing a vision for a future of AI agents that could serve customers with different tasks. He had also been promoting the product on social media and in interviews. Technology pundit Kara Swisher suggested the departure might have resulted from disagreements over business strategy. “The speed of the ouster suggests that this was a management change rather than an indication of deeper issues at the company,” she wrote. Forrester analyst Rowan Curran echoed this view, saying the sudden removal of Altman was likely personal or money-related.
According to the official company statement, Murati is a highly accomplished technologist who has played an essential role in developing the company into a global AI leader. “She brings a unique skill set and understanding of the entire organization’s values, operations, and business, including its commitment to ethical AI governance and policy,” it read. She currently leads the company’s research, product, and safety functions. She will ensure a seamless transition while the board formally searches for a permanent CEO.
Murati, who was born and raised in Albania, moved to Canada at the age of 16. She holds an international baccalaureate from Pearson College UWC and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Ivy League Dartmouth. She began her professional career as an intern at Goldman Sachs. She later served as a senior product manager at Zodiac Aerospace and then at Tesla, where she helped develop its Model X car.
The announcement of her appointment came amid concerns over the misuse of generative AI technologies, especially in the case of deepfakes. Viral videos with morphed faces of Bollywood actors Rashmika Mandanna, Katrina Kaif, and Kajol have sparked concern that the technology can spread false information or even harm public figures. The Indian government has already issued an advisory to social media platforms asking them to take steps to prevent the creation and dissemination of these manipulated images.
