In a surprising twist, OpenAI announced Emmett Shear as its new CEO three days after the dismissal of Sam Altman and succeeding the interim Mira Murati.
Shear, co-founder of the streaming platform Twitch, assumed leadership of the artificial intelligence company at a time of change and challenges.
The transition, as we well know, was marked by controversy; with Altman abruptly ousted on November 17 and Mira Murati assuming the role of interim CEO for just three days.
Thus, on November 20 Shear was introduced as the new interim leader of OpenAI and immediately declared his happiness at the new challenge.
Who is Emmett Shear?
It’s about a degree in Computer Science from Yale University.
The brief CEO of OpenAI, in addition to being co-founder and former CEO of Twitchhad roles at the venture capital firm Y Combinator, where he met Altman.
Publicly, this character has not hesitated to express his opinion regarding the advances of artificial intelligence, raising his concern about the speed of its advances and the risks associated with advanced and autonomous AI.
According to the former Twitch, there would be up to a 50% chance that AI will develop so quickly that it is impossible to control it.
Perhaps that is why they hired him at OpenAI, considering that one of the possible reasons for Altman’s departure was, precisely, his lack of awareness in this regard.
Shear’s announcement
“Today I received a call inviting me to consider a once in a lifetime opportunity: become the interim CEO of OpenAI. After consulting with my family and reflecting for a few hours, I accepted. Recently, I had resigned from my position as CEO of Twitch due to the birth of my son, who is now 9 months old,” Shear said in a lengthy tweet.
Today I got a call inviting me to consider a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to become the interim CEO of @OpenAI. After consulting with my family and reflecting on it for just a few hours, I accepted. I had recently resigned from my role as CEO of Twitch due to the birth of my…
— Emmett Shear (@eshear) November 20, 2023
In the letter, the interim CEO addressed recent events and expressed his intention to end concerns and restore stability in OpenAI.
According to his tweet, he planned to conduct internal investigations, talk to OpenAI employees to learn their concerns, and make management and leadership reforms. in the next 30 days.
Altman’s return
But since not everything that glitters is gold, almost three days after taking officeShear began the controversies.
According Bloombergthe professional He threatened to resign from his position if OpenAI management did not reveal the true reason for the dismissal of its previous CEO.
And well, clearly no one cared about his threats. After around an intense 72 hours, Emmet Shear is no longer interim CEO of OpenAI.
Surprise: the legendary Sam Altman returned to the position that led him to successafter a turbulent week of comings and goings.
I am deeply pleased by this result, after ~72 very intense hours of work. Coming into OpenAI, I wasn’t sure what the right path would be. This was the pathway that maximized safety alongside doing right by all stakeholders involved. I’m glad to have been part of the solution. https://t.co/AGoDBbwhkq
— Emmett Shear (@eshear) November 22, 2023