Given Mr Altman and OpenAI are at the forefront of the AI revolution, the sense of Succession-style chaos should concern us all.
Here’s everything we know – and why it matters.
Shock departure
Mr Altman’s sacking was announced in an unassuming OpenAI press release.
Coming just weeks after he’d represented the firm at the UK’s AI Safety Summit, and days after appearing at the company’s first conference for third-party developers, the timing was a shock.
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The board was said to have “lost confidence” in him due to unspecified communications issues.
In this case, the board had meant just four people – including OpenAI’s chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who had reportedly become concerned that Altman was prioritising company growth over AI safety.
Members five and six – Mr Altman himself and then-president Greg Brockman – opposed it but were outvoted.
“I loved my time at OpenAI,” Mr Altman posted on X as the news broke, describing it as “transformative”.
“Will have more to say about what’s next later.”
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at summit
The immediate fallout
OpenAI made chief technology officer Mira Murati interim CEO.
But as hundreds of staff made their displeasure about Altman’s sacking known, she made attempts to secure his stunning return to stave off the revolt.
“OpenAI is nothing without its people,” many employees wrote together on X – including Ms Murati herself.
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Mr Altman was reportedly keen on the idea of returning. His brother Jack, also a start-up CEO, of HR firm Lattice, warned his detractors they were “betting against the wrong guy”.
But by Sunday, Mr Altman and Mr Brockman had joined OpenAI investor Microsoft to lead an AI research team.
Bloomberg reported the tech giant’s CEO Satya Nadella was “furious” and blindsided about the ousting.
OpenAI responded by hiring Emmett Shear, the former boss of streaming site Twitch, as Mr Altman’s replacement.
But the sense of panic at OpenAI was obvious, as more than 500 employees signed a letter threatening to quit.
Nothing encapsulated the chaos more than Mr Sutskever signing, saying he “deeply regrets” the board’s decision.
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Despite joining Microsoft, Mr Altman left the door open for a return to OpenAI.
The two companies were already closely aligned, with the Windows maker investing $10bn in it earlier this year and using its GPT tech to reinvent its Bing search engine and Office products.
According to tech news site The Verge, citing multiple sources, Mr Altman and Mr Brockman were willing to return to OpenAI if the board members who staged the coup walked away.
Mr Nadella told CNBC “it’s very, very clear something has to change around governance”.
“We’ll have a good dialogue with their board on that,” he said.
Mr Altman suggested he’d stay involved with OpenAI in some capacity, posting: “We are all going to work together some way or other, and I’m so excited.”
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OpenAI announced his return “in principle” on Wednesday morning (UK time) – and Mr Altman seemed to have got his way.
The company said there would be a “new initial board” of Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo.
“We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this,” it added.
Mr Summers is a former US treasury secretary, while Mr Taylor – the new chair – co-created Google Maps.
Mr Brockman will also be returning to the company.
What happens now?
Mr Altman has suggested his return means he won’t be working at Microsoft after all.
Mr Nadella appeared fine with that, saying he was “encouraged” by the changes to OpenAI’s board.
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As for the old board, Mr Sutskever may be hoping his quick change of tact keeps him on side.
And then there’s Mr Shear, who will go down in history as one of Silicon Valley’s shortest-lived CEOs.
The executive, a previously self-professed AI “doomer” who has warned of its existential threat to humanity, had claimed he was not told why Mr Altman was dismissed.
“I am deeply pleased by this result,” he said of Mr Altman’s return.
“I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.”
Why the future of OpenAI matters
The San Francisco-based company has been around since 2015 and even then had some big names on its books, including Elon Musk.
He and Mr Altman were the first people on the board to guide the firm’s quest to develop “safe and beneficial” artificial general intelligence, which refers to super-powerful AI capable of outperforming humans in a number of tasks
But it wasn’t until November 2022 that OpenAI was thrust into mainstream attention thanks to ChatGPT, attracting more than 100 million users in just a few months.
With AI tipped to have a similarly transformative impact on the world as the Industrial Revolution, Mr Altman has been rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s most powerful politicians as he looks to help shape potential regulation.
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Will AI mean ‘no job is needed’?
Mr Altman hasn’t been shy of warning about the risks of AI, but is undoubtedly committed to pushing the boundaries and, perhaps more significantly to the drama of recent days, maximising its commercial potential.
The OpenAI developer conference he appeared at before his sacking was all about empowering third parties to leverage the firm’s GPT tech in their products – even building their own digital assistants.
And in September, the Financial Times reported ex-Apple designer Jony Ive was in talks with OpenAI to build the “iPhone of AI”.
Such projects would go against OpenAI’s non-profit origins. The firm launched a profit-focused arm in 2019, but it didn’t go down well with some of its original investors – including Musk, who quit.
Swapping Mr Altman for Mr Shear, who previously said he’s “in favour of slowing down” AI development, looked like a sign OpenAI wanted to return to its roots.
One thing we should all hope slows down is the drama surrounding Mr Altman’s employment – a saga not even ChatGPT could have written, and one that sent one of the world’s most influential companies into meltdown.
Mel Gibson says there is “nothing left” of his Hollywood home following the LA wildfires and “someone should answer” for the devastation.
The Braveheart star was with podcaster Joe Rogan when the flames engulfed his Malibu mansion and said he was a “little tense” while recording their discussion.
But he knew his family were “out of harm’s way” and a few “necessary things” such as passports had been saved.
But the loss of his home and others is “tragic” and it “makes you really sad”, he added.
While describing lost items as “only things”, he said they included “works of art, photographs, [and] rare books”, some of them dating back to 1600.
Regarding the conduct of the authorities, he told Fox News: “Apparently, some people were asleep on the job, mainly our leaders.
“That’s something they have to live with. Kids are traumatised. Someone should answer for it.”
Asked if he had a message for California governor Gavin Newsom, or Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, he commented: “Spend less on hair gel.”
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Celebrities’ homes have burned down in the LA fires
At least 16 people have been killed in the blazes, with more than 100,000 asked to evacuate their homes.
The fires have affected multiple celebrities, ripping through exclusive suburbs in southern California, home to film stars and billionaires.
Legendary British actor Sir Anthony Hopkins has reportedly lost his home in the Pacific Palisades fire.
The star – perhaps best known for his performance as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs – posted a message on Instagram, in which he said: “As we all struggle to heal from the devastation of these fires, it’s important we remember that the only thing we take with us is the love we give.”
The mother of British child star Rory Sykes, 32, has confirmed her son died in the Pacific Palisades fire.
Sykes appeared in TV programme Kiddy Kapers in the 1990s.
Shelley Sykes said her “beautiful son” was “born blind with cerebral palsy and had difficulty walking” but had overcome “so much with surgeries and therapies to regain his sight and to be able to learn to walk”.
Paris Hilton, meanwhile, says her “heart shattered into a million pieces” after visiting the charred remains of her Malibu beach house.
Describing herself as “in complete shock”, the hotel heiress said seeing her family memories “reduced to ashes” was “devastating”.
Hilton, 43, said she watched her home burn to the ground on TV – and shared a video on social media from inside the gutted structure.
She said she was grateful to be safe along with her husband Carter Reum and their two children, Phoenix and London, but was still devastated.
She wrote on Instagram: “I’m standing here in what used to be our home, and the heartbreak is truly indescribable.
“When I first saw the news, I was in complete shock – I couldn’t process it. But now, standing here and seeing it with my own eyes, it feels like my heart has shattered into a million pieces.”
She has lived in the multi-million-pound property for three years.
Hilton added: “This house wasn’t just a place to live – it was where we dreamed, laughed, and created the most beautiful memories as a family.
“It was where [son] Phoenix’s little hands made art that I’ll cherish forever, where love and life filled every corner. To see it reduced to ashes… it’s devastating beyond words.
“What breaks my heart even more is knowing that this isn’t just my story. So many people have lost everything. It’s not just walls and roofs – it’s the memories that made those houses homes. It’s the photos, the keepsakes, the irreplaceable pieces of our lives.”
She described herself as “incredibly lucky”, adding: “My loved ones – my babies – and my pets are safe. That’s the most important thing”.
She thanked the firefighters, first responders and volunteers who she said were “all risking their lives” to help, adding: “Even in the ashes, there is still beauty in this world.”
Presenter Ricki Lake said she and her husband Ross had lost their “dream home” and their “heaven on earth”.
She said on Instagram: “We never took our heavenly spot on the bluff overlooking our beloved Malibu for granted, not even for one second.
“This loss is immeasurable. It’s the spot where we got married three years ago. I grieve along with all of those suffering during this apocalyptic event.”
The ancestral home of Big Lebowski actor Jeff Bridges is also understood to have been destroyed.
The four-bedroom home, which had been in the Bridges family for generations, was inherited by Bridges and his two siblings in 2018 according to the Los Angeles Times.
Tina Knowles, mother of singer Beyonce, has also lost a house she owned in Malibu to the fires.
She shared a short video of dolphins playing in the sea on Instagram, writing: “This is what I was looking at on my birthday this past weekend from my tiny little bungalow on the water in Malibu! It was my favourite place, my sanctuary, my sacred Happy Place. Now it is gone!!”
She went on to thank the fire department and first responders and offered condolences to others affected by the fires.
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Take That star Mark Owen and his family were evacuated from their home, his wife Emma Ferguson describing them waking to “helicopters, thick black smoke and winds howling”.
She said that while she was grateful her family was safe, it was “exhausting” to be “constantly looking online to see if your house is gone”.
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Steve Guttenberg: ‘I’ve seen such tragedy’
Actor Steve Guttenberg, best known for his role in the Police Academy film franchise, has called the fires “absolutely the worst” he has ever seen and has been doing what he can to help distressed residents.
Other stars to have lost their homes in the fires include Billy Crystal, Miles Teller, Diane Warren, Cary Elwes, Milo Ventimiglia, Anna Faris, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag.
On Friday, the Recording Academy, which runs the Grammy Awards, and charity MusiCares pledged $1m (£813,000) to support music artists affected by the fires.
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis has pledged the same amount to fire relief efforts from her family foundation.
Details are starting to emerge of the victims of the Los Angeles fires – and at least two died trying to protect the homes where they raised families for decades.
The number of people killed by the wildfires has increased from 11 to 13, according to officials.
The Eaton fire has killed eight people and the Palisades fire has killed five.
The 67-year-old great-grandfather of 10 died in his Altadena home. His son Justin Mitchell also died.
Justin’s older brother – also called Anthony – told Sky News’s US partner network NBC News: “He probably could have gotten himself out but he wasn’t going to leave my brother.
“He really loved his kids.”
Erliene Louise Kelley
Briana Navarro, 33, lived with her grandmother at the family’s Altadena home – along with her husband and two daughters.
Mrs Navarro told NBC News that her husband wanted to leave.
However Mrs Kelly told them she was fine and decided to stay at the property.
Police confirmed to Mrs Navarro on Thursday night that her grandmother died when the fire engulfed the home.
She said she thinks her grandmother was “at peace” staying in the home she “tended to every day” for more than four decades.
Victor Shaw
Victor Shaw, 66, was trying to protect his home that had been in the family for over five decades when he was killed Tuesday night in the Eaton Fire.
His sister, Shari Shaw, told ABC News that they lived together in the home, and as the flames started to engulf the property she tried to get him to leave.
She described how he died in a “heroic attempt” to protect his home in Altadena and that his body was found in front of the home with a garden hose still in his hand.
“I can’t imagine what he might have been thinking, how he might have been so frightened,” Ms Shaw said.
“And I couldn’t be here, I couldn’t be here to save him. I couldn’t be here, that’s what hurts the most.”
Rodney Kent Nickerson
Rodney Kent Nickerson, 83, had reassured loved ones that he would be fine as his family and neighbours tried to get him to evacuate his Altadena home.
His daughter Kimiko Nickerson told KCAL News: “My son tried to get him to leave, and my neighbours and myself and he said he’ll be fine, I’ll be here when you guys come back.
“And he said his house would be here.”
Mr Nickerson was outside trying to hose down his property at around 7pm on Tuesday and the last time Ms Nickerson talked to him was on FaceTime just over two hours later.
“His house is here and he was here too. He was in his bed when I found him. His whole body was there intact,” she added.
Rory Sykes
The former Australian child star, who was born blind and had cerebral palsy, died on Wednesday after his mother said she was unable to save him from his burning cottage.
Shelley Sykes said it burned down in the Palisades Fire when she “couldn’t put out the cinders on his roof with a hose” because of a lack of water.
She told Australia’s 10 News First that she has a broken arm and could not lift or move her son.
Mrs Sykes drove to the local fire department for help and when the fire department brought her back, Rory’s “cottage was burnt to the ground”.