Five Days

Over a single weekend in November 2023, a nonprofit board fired the CEO of the most-watched company in AI, then watched its power evaporate. The structure was built so conscience could override commerce. The crisis proved who actually held the leverage.

NOV 17
Friday
12:19 Sam Altman is fired on a Google Meet. The board: Sutskever, D'Angelo, Toner, McCauley. "not consistently candid."
12:23 Greg Brockman removed from the board (keeps his job). Microsoft gets ~1 minute of advance notice.
12:00s Blog post: "OpenAI announces leadership transition." Mira Murati named interim CEO.
PM Brockman quits. Three senior researchers resign that night.
NOV 18
Saturday
Investors led by Microsoft and Thrive Capital press the board to reverse. Inside the company, executives push to bring Altman back.
NOV 19
Sunday
Return talks stall over who controls the board.
PM The board passes over Murati and names Emmett Shear (ex-Twitch) as the second interim CEO in three days.
NOV 20
Monday
AM Satya Nadella announces Altman and Brockman will join Microsoft to lead a new AI lab. A landing pad for the whole company.
A staff letter circulates. Signatures climb past 500, then 650, then 700+ of ~770. The board, it says, is "not capable of overseeing OpenAI."
Ilya Sutskever signs it and posts that he deeply regrets his participation. The decisive vote recants in 72 hours.
Employees demanding Altman's return — ~700 of ~770
NOV 21
Tuesday
Negotiations restart in earnest, now about the terms of Altman's return and a new board.
NOV 22
Wednesday
~1:00 Altman is reinstated as CEO. New board: Bret Taylor (chair), Larry Summers, Adam D'Angelo.
Toner, McCauley, and Sutskever leave the board. The crisis ends roughly five days after it began.
~1 min
Microsoft's advance warning before its ~$13B partner decapitated itself
~700/770
Employees who threatened to walk to Microsoft
~3 days
Emmett Shear's tenure as interim CEO
6 → 3
Board shrank, then reset to three with one holdover (D'Angelo)
SOURCE · NEURON MAKERS, CH. 29 — drawn from research dossier 04 (OpenAI blog "leadership transition," Brockman & Nadella X posts, WilmerHale review, Helen Toner's TED AI interview). Times US Pacific; the Q* rumor is treated as unconfirmed.