This week marked a significant turn of events at OpenAI, as deposed Chief Executive of OpenAI Sam Altman returns as CEO of the artificial Intelligence company.
Mr. Altman was fired as CEO last Friday after a thorough review process, on the grounds that “he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.”
Altman Reinstated as CEO with New Initial Board
Altman’s return to the firm is currently making the rounds and has escalated some trading activity around his co-founded cryptocurrency token Worldcoin (WDC). OpenAI had earlier today announced the formerly deposed CEO’s return.
“We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo,” said OpenAI.
“We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this.”
Altman then took to X to react to his reinstatement:
“I love OpenAI, and everything i’ve done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together,” said Altman.
Microsoft Hired Altman and Colleagues
Following his removal as CEO, tech giant Microsoft hired the ex-OpenAI executive and some of his colleagues to join their advanced AI research team. Microsoft has been in close partnership with OpenAI, and for several years, have worked together in several innovative AI projects.
“And we’re extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team,” wrote Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft on X (formerly Twitter). “We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success.”
In his post on X, Altman, talking about his decision to join Microsoft, said, “it was clear that was the best path for me and the team.” However, he is “looking forward to returning to OpenAI, and building on our strong partnership with msft (Microsoft).”
How Has Altman’s Return Affected WorldCoin’s (WDC) Price?
WorldCoin (WLD), the native token for iris biometric cryptocurrency project WorldCoin – co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also gained impressively today following the abatement of OpenAI’s leadership issues. WLD is up 9.55% at $2.57 as of this writing and has amassed a 24-hour trading volume of over $236.6k.
The token began a steep decline as the news of the firing of its co-founder was confirmed last Friday. This downward movement saw its price go as low as $1.84 as of Saturday, November 18, 2023.
Altman’s comeback as CEO has positively influenced the token’s price and seems to have set it on an upward trajectory. Between 7:00 AM UTC and 5:00 PM UTC today November 22, WLD has bounced from $2.48 to $2.57
WorldCoin was founded in 2019 by Altman, Mark Novendstern, and Alex Blania and has the backing of California-based venture capitalist firm Andreessen Horowitz.