Emmett Shear, former CEO of Twitch, has been appointed as the interim CEO of OpenAI, as per a report by The Information.
After a weekend of talks to bring back Sam Altman as OpenAI’s CEO, the board decided that Shear will replace Mira Murati, who became the interim CEO on Friday.
This move marked the third CEO change in three days, a turbulent period triggered by Altman’s abrupt firing due to alleged communication inconsistencies.
The board, led by prominent AI researcher Ilya Sutskever, resisted stepping down to facilitate Altman’s return and emphasized the necessity of removing Altman for the company’s mission of achieving “broadly beneficial” artificial general intelligence.
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Despite missed truce deadlines, the board surprised the industry by appointing Shear, known for leading Twitch but departing amid layoffs in March.
Emmett Shear, previously at the helm of Twitch until March 2023, played a pivotal role in the platform’s journey since its inception as Justin.tv, evolving it into a prominent live video platform. In addition to his leadership at Twitch, he also contributed as a part-time partner at the renowned venture capital firm Y Combinator.
Altman’s abrupt exit was attributed to communication issues, and the board, facing pressure from investors and the threat of a mass employee walkout. However, the remaining board members missed a crucial deadline set by Altman to resign or face staff resignations. OpenAI employees rallied behind Altman on social media.
The decision seemingly closes the door on Altman’s return, prompted by investor pressure and the looming threat of a mass employee walkout.
