OpenAI Board Screwed it Up

In case you have been off planet for the last week, you missed the news about the board of OpenAI firing its co-founder, CEO, and face of the AI movement, Sam Altman, only to rehire him days later. While this may all seem upsetting and confusing, it is a live example of the flaws of quick and dirty thinking.

How do we get to this harsh conclusion?

• Almost all of the 750 or so employees said they would quit unless Altman was reinstated. I guess the board realized that without reinstating Altman, they had no employees, and were smart enough to figure out that without employees, they had no company.

• There was no mention of advice from outside governance experts. Ever hear of a board not using a law firm for cover when taking such an action? I have not. The board did not appear to understand Governance 101: When a board takes a serious action (like dumping its CEO), consult somebody (anybody) who can serve as an impartial expert. Paper the file already! There are plenty of valuable and well-paid lawyers and advisors out there and available, now that the first FTX trial is completed.

• There was no drama or investigation to let the situation settle. In my experience, boards tend to want to take action and do the “right thing.” The board gets righteous and almost religious about “fulfilling our fiduciary duty.” Board Tunnel Vision could be an entire separate blog, book, and movie. OpenAI is not the first board to overreact and not systematically think through a situation.

• The OpenAI board was not diverse, so it was easy to see how Group Think took over and the “we must act” mantra started the boulder rolling down the hill. Other than Altman, and co-founder and president Greg Brockman, the other board members were a scientist and two academics. Not really a group to guide one of the most important technologies since the creation of the Internet. Worse, the board did not even know it was ill-equipped to handle the company. We may never know how this board went into its “let’s get righteous and take action” frame of mind, but given the IQ levels of the members, I am sure it was well-thought out and made sense to them, as they sat inside of the tunnel.

For an opposing point of view, go to OpenAI’s board may have been right to fire Sam Altman — and to rehire him, too

For more on the OpenAI board structure, go to Our Structure

Using Quick and Dirty Thinking is not advisable when making a Tectonic Decision. Learn more below.