OpenAI surprised on Wednesday by announcing that Sam Altman will return to the company as CEO. This comes less than a week after his abrupt dismissal by the Board of Directors, which will undergo a complete overhaul to facilitate his return. The information comes from the Dow Jones news agency.

The announcement was made by the company, the creator of ChatGPT, through a message on the social network X (formerly Twitter). “We have reached a preliminary agreement for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board composed of Bret Taylor (Chairman), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo,” he posted.

Taylor is the former co-CEO of Salesforce, and Summers is the former Secretary of the Treasury. D’Angelo, on the other hand, is the co-founder and CEO of the question-and-answer startup Quora and will remain on the Board.

He added that they are working together to finalize the details, after which he thanked the patience of investors and the overall market, which has witnessed a daily soap opera with twists and turns.

The decision was made under pressure from employees and investors to the Board of Directors. In fact, on Monday, hundreds of workers, including co-founder and board member Ilya Sutskever, signed a letter stating that either Altman would return or they would go with him to Microsoft.

Altman himself also used his X profile to confirm the news. “I love OpenAI, and everything I’ve done in the past few days was to keep this team and its mission together,” he noted. The leader explained that when he decided to join Microsoft on Sunday afternoon, it became clear that it was the best path for him and the team.

But now, with the new Board that will be at OpenAI and with the support of Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO), I look forward to returning to OpenAI and developing our strong partnership with Microsoft.

Nadella, as expected, also commented on the matter. Remember that the company he leads holds 49% of OpenAI and was one of the investors who pushed the hardest for Altman’s return, alongside Tiger Global, Thrive Capital, and Sequoia Capital. None of them held a position on the board of directors, and the decision took them by surprise. Therefore, they even called for the resignation of the Board so that Altman could return as CEO.

On Wednesday, in a message also on X, Nadella said he was encouraged by the changes on the OpenAI board. “We believe this is an essential first step on the path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance,” he emphasized.

He also noted that Sam, Greg (Brockman), and I have talked and agreed that they have a crucial role to play alongside OpenAI’s leadership team to ensure that the company continues to thrive and fulfill its mission.

“We look forward to developing our strong partnership and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners,” he concluded.

And Greg Brockman also spoke, although more briefly, on X: “Returning to OpenAI and coding again tonight,” he indicated. In another subsequent message, you can see a picture of him with workers in the background, and he wrote, “We’re back.”

Of course, what no one has said is what will happen now with Emmett Shear, the founder of Twitch, who was appointed as the new CEO after Altman’s departure. He already identifies himself on his X profile as the former interim CEO of OpenAI, and in a message, he said he is deeply satisfied with this outcome after approximately 72 very intense hours of work.

As he noted, “When I stepped into OpenAI, I wasn’t sure what the right path would be. This was the path that maximized safety while doing the right thing for all parties involved. I’m glad to have been part of the solution,” he commented.

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