Sam Altman, Steve Jobs & the Future of OpenAI

When Apple got rid of Steve Jobs it took over a decade for him to come back to save the company from itself. That first event happened 38 years ago. The other, 26.

In 2023 however, business moves at the speed of 5G networks and TikTok scrolls, and OpenAI 's board got a taste of it first hand and, as the famous meme says: "The more you f*ck around, the more you find out."

And find out they did. But before we get into it, let's recap the highlights from our modern-day tech drama:

Recap: Turning an Industry Upside Down in 2.5 Business Days

• Friday: OpenAI's Board fires founder and CEO Sam Altman without apparent reason. Greg Brockman gets removed from the Board and quits, and Mira Murati becomes CEO.
• Saturday: COO Brad Lightcap justifies the firing as a "breakdown in communication" and some employees step up, threatening the Board with quitting if Sam Altman doesn't get reinstated by the end of the weekend. Sam takes the now-iconic selfie when he enters his own company as guest, and considers starting a new venture.
• Sunday: 微软 CEO Satya Nadella puts on his Master Strategist hat and announces he will be hiring Sam, Greg and the entire team following them to lead a new AI research project within Microsoft. In the meantime, the Board's stumbling continues as they bring on Twitch's Emmett Shear as CEO.
• Monday: After a beautiful Twitter mutiny 700 out of 770 OpenAI threaten to quit if the Board doesn't resign. Investors explore suing the Board. Ilya Sutskever opens up publicly saying he regrets supporting the Board, and calls for unity.
• Tuesday: After some uncertainty and conflicting reports, OpenAI announces Sam and Greg will return with a new Board to back them.

And without any fast forward needed, we jump to today: Sam Altman makes his return after the first-ever-in-history case of a company changing two CEOs in less than a week, the head of a corporate giant moving with the agility of a startup and the public opinion eating alive a Board.

I will be as fast as Twitter information flows in claiming that Sam's firing is water under the bridge and wondering: What does the future look like for OpenAI?

Let's break it down.

Culture: Will There Be Conflict at the Top?

Ilya's backtracking of support for the Board is a telling sign – but I'm not gonna sit here and play Nostradamus. The truth is, someone close to those tech circles told me that the backstabbing is ruthless at the higher levels of the industry, and that Ilya had been groomed and manipulated for months to make sure he sided with the Board.

This begs the question: Despite the positive outcome and the entire team staying at the company, and despite Ilya's change of positions... Is trust broken at OpenAI?

The simple answer is it depends. As much as we want to think of businesses as entities that act and do, the truth is that businesses are exquisitely human.

And that human element is what makes a company like OpenAI great: As the employees said during the mutiny "OpenAI is nothing without its people."

To preserve the culture and keep OpenAI as the industry's top performer, Ilya, Sam, Greg and Brad will have to do plenty of soul searching and have the most heart-to-heart, open conversations they can.

Once they succeed in that, they'll have to keep their guards up and their attention high: If, as I was told, the top of the industry is packed with court politics and Game of Thrones-like intrigues, the OpenAI leadership should expect more to come.

And to face it, they'll need to stand united. Even more so than before.

"Never let a good crisis go to waste." - Winston Churchill

Brand: Did OpenAI's Reputation Take a Hit?

"Brand" is a fancy word we use to describe a company's reputation. And reputation is driven by perception: In my previous article, I predicted the fall of OpenAI if they didn't bring back Sam and Greg.

Now that OpenAI's team is back in full force, their competitors' hopes of finally catching up falter. The reason? Easy said – the OpenAI brand didn't take a hit.

If anything, the OpenAI brand comes out stronger than ever before from this scandal:

• Sam Altman's name is in an upwards trend, as he is now the victim of corporate greed and delusional decision-making by a faceless Board.
• Greg Brockman is the loyal co-founder who stood up to the oppressors without hesitation.
• Ilya Sustskever risked being a villain in the story, yet he had the maturity and honesty to expose his image to a public apology – which says tons about his character.
• The OpenAI staff is now known for its ironclad loyalty not to the company or to a salary, but to their community, from the top to the peers.

Finally, whoever was living under a rock and wasn't aware or OpenAI, now is extremely aware and into this situation. If before it was their product, ChatGPT, to get most of the public recognition outside of Tech, now the company has a massive amount of notoriety and goodwill behind it.

OpenAI's brand lives. And, should its leadership play their cards right, their competitive advantage will just increase, for they will be more motivated and united than before.

Don't believe me? Look at the tweet Greg posted today.

Extra Credit: Satya Nadella's Strategic Mind

Nobody ever doubted Satya's remarkable business savviness – hell, he wouldn't be where he is otherwise – and yet no one expected him to come out of this situation not just as a key player, but as a massive role model.

He almost swooped an entire team of 700+ people worth $90 BILLION for free and before the markets opened. He even did it just a week before Black Friday. It didn't happen in the end, but he was close and everyone admires him for his quick thinking and his reaction speed.

Now let's talk about the future.

Final Thoughts: What Does the Future Hold?

In the 80s and 90s, nobody would've believed you if you told them that Tech entrepreneurs would become bigger names than rockstars.

In the 2010s, probably most would have been skeptical if you told them the world would hold its breath for corporate drama in Silicon Valley, and follow it with the same passion they watched Money Heist.

Business is unpredictable, so I cannot tell you what's to come. My guess? OpenAI will keep surpassing expectations and will soon announce a breakthrough – both because they already hinted at it, and because they need a PR move that settles them once again as the industry leader in AI.

Whatever happens, however, there is one thing I am absolutely certain of: There will be a movie about Sam Altman and OpenAI, and it will make "The Social Network" look like a box office flop in comparison.

Someone please call Jesse Eisenberg and tell them castings are open.