OpenAI sacks ChatGPT star CEO Sam Altman in shock move

The shock firing blindsided many employees who discovered the abrupt management shuffle from an internal announcement and the company's public-facing blog.

OpenAI, the company that launched ChatGPT a year ago, said Friday (Nov 17) it has dismissed CEO Sam Altman after the board lost confidence in his ability to lead.

The shock firing blindsided many employees who discovered the abrupt management shuffle from an internal announcement and the company's public-facing blog.

Altman, 38, became a tech world sensation with the release of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot with unprecedented capabilities, churning out human-level content like poems or artwork in just seconds.

He quickly rose to become Silicon Valley's newest star, travelling the world to meet with political leaders and huge audiences fascinated by the promise and threats of AI.

His dismissal caught the tech world completely by surprise, with rumours rife on social media on what had caused the sudden sacking.

OpenAI's board said in a statement that Altman's departure "follows a deliberative review process", which concluded "he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities".