San Francisco: Sam Altman, the ousted CEO of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, has reportedly told investors he is planning to launch a new artificial intelligence (AI) venture.
Another report stated that after sacking Altman, OpenAI board is now in discussions with him to return to the company as its CEO.
However, Altman, who was fired by the board on a video call, is “ambivalent” about coming back and would seek key governance changes, reports The Verge, citing people aware of the development.
Former OpenAI Co-founder and president Greg Brockman (who also resigned from the company following Altman’s sacking) is also likely to join the effort and the project is still in development, reports The Information.
“The exact nature of the venture wasn’t immediately known. More details, meanwhile, have also emerged about Altman’s broader ambitions in developing AI,” the report said late Saturday.
Regarding the return of the AI poster boy to OpenAI, the report said “A source close to Altman says the board had agreed in principle to resign and to allow Altman and Greg Brockman (OpenAI President and co-founder) to return, but has since waffled — missing a key deadline by which many OpenAI staffers were set to resign.”
If Altman decides to leave and start a new company, those employees would join him, the report added. After Altman’s sacking and Brockman’s resignation, at last three senior researchers also resigned and more departures are in the works.
Altman has apparently been in talks with semiconductor executives, including chip designer Arm.
“The effort would likely take years. It couldn’t be learned whether Altman was representing OpenAI or a separate venture in the discussions,” the report noted.
Reports surfaced in September that former chief Apple designer Jony Ive and Altman are considering launching an AI hardware device together, which will be first-of-its-kind if materialised.
Ive who is the renowned designer of the iPhone is reportedly in talks with Altman about an AI hardware project.
“SoftBank CEO and investor Masayoshi Son has talked to both about the idea,” The Information had reported, citing people aware of the matter.
OpenAI’s hardware efforts are, however, in the very earliest stages.
OpenAI once had a robotics research division but it was disbanded in July 2021 after encountering technical roadblocks.
PNN & Agencies