Sam Altman returns as OpenAI CEO in chaotic win for Microsoft

(Bloomberg) — OpenAI will bring back Sam Altman and overhaul its board with new directors, a stunning reversal in a drama that’s transfixed Silicon Valley and the global AI industry.

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Altman is returning as chief executive officer and the initial board will be led by Bret Taylor, a former co-CEO of Salesforce Inc. The other directors are Larry Summers, the former US Treasury Secretary, and existing member Adam D’Angelo, the co-founder and CEO of Quora Inc. OpenAI is now working “to figure out the details,” the company said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The decision to restore him to the world’s best-known AI startup marks a significant victory for Microsoft Corp., which worked with fellow investors to reverse Altman’s firing. CEO Satya Nadella publicly supported Altman throughout the turmoil and briefly agreed to hire him at Microsoft to start a new in-house research group.

The two new board members also hold appeal for Wall Street and the Silicon Valley crowd. Summers, a Harvard academic and paid contributor to Bloomberg Television, sits on the board of several startups, including Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc. Taylor is a director at Shopify Inc. and, as a director at Twitter, acted as a calming force during the sale to Elon Musk last year.

The reworked OpenAI board will not be final: its main priority is to select up to nine new directors, said a person familiar with the negotiations who asked not to be identified. Board composition proved to be a major sticking point in negotiations for Altman’s return after his shocking ouster on Friday.

Parties are still determining which members — beside D’Angelo, who has been appointed — will stay on the new OpenAI board. Microsoft, whose AI strategy hinges on the startup’s technology, will likely have representation on the new board, certainly as an observer and possibly with one or more seats, one of the people said.

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Altman agreed not to take a board seat…