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At an all-hands meeting Thursday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman denied that there are plans for him to receive a “giant equity stake” in the company, calling that information “just not true,” according to a person who was in attendance.
Altman and finance chief Sarah Friar both said at the meeting, conducted by video, that investors have raised concerns about Altman not having equity in the high-valued artificial intelligence company that he co-founded almost nine years ago, said the person, who asked not to be named because the gathering was only for employees.
Regarding his potentially attaining an equity stake, Altman said, “There are no current plans here,” the person said.
OpenAI Chairman Bret Taylor told CNBC in a statement that while the board has talked about the matter, no specific figures are on the table.
“The board has had discussions about whether it would be beneficial to the company and our mission to have Sam be compensated with equity, but no specific figures have been discussed nor have any decisions been made,” Taylor said.
The meeting late Thursday followed the board’s decision to consider restructuring the company to a for-profit business, according to a separate person with knowledge of the matter. Should the change occur, the nonprofit segment would remain as a separate entity, said the person, who asked not to be named because no plan has been finalized.
While directors consider OpenAI’s future, key executives continue to walk out the door.
On Wednesday, three execs announced their departures. OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, who briefly served as interim CEO, said she would be leaving after 6½ years. Later in the day, research chief Bob McGrew and Barret Zoph, a research vice president, said they were leaving the company.
In an interview Thursday at Italian Tech Week, Altman said, “I think this will be hopefully a great transition for everyone involved and I hope OpenAI will be stronger for it, as we are for all of our transitions.”
Altman said the departures were not related to the company’s potential restructuring, contrary to some media reports.
“Most of the stuff I saw was also just totally wrong,” Altman said at the event in Turin, Italy. “But we have been thinking about that, our board has, for almost a year independently, as we think about what it takes to get to our next stage. But I think this is just about people being ready for new chapters of their lives and a new generation of leadership.”
Murati wrote in a memo to the company that she’s “stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration.” She said her focus will be on ensuring a “smooth transition.”
Before Thursday’s moves, OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever and former safety leader Jan Leike announced their departures in May. Co-founder John Schulman said last month that he was leaving to join rival Anthropic.
OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, is currently pursuing a funding round that would value the company at more than $150 billion, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. Thrive Capital is leading the round and plans to invest $1 billion, and Tiger Global is planning to join as well.
While OpenAI has been in hypergrowth mode since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, it’s been simultaneously riddled with controversy and executive departures, with some current and former employees concerned that the company is growing too quickly to operate safely.
Altman was ousted in November, before being quickly reinstated. Almost all of OpenAI’s employees signed an open letter saying they would leave in response to the board’s action. Days later, Altman was back at the company and Murati moved from interim CEO back to the role of CTO.
