OpenAI’s Ilya Sutskever “deeply regrets” his actions leading to Sam Altman’s ouster

OpenAI cofounder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever said on Monday that he deeply regrets his actions that led to the ouster of former CEO Sam Altman, and that he would do anything to reunite the company.

“I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we’ve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company,” he said on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

Sutskever’s comments came on a day when Microsoft announced that Altman and Greg Brockman, former president at OpenAI, will be joining the tech giant to lead “a new advanced AI research team”.

Some of Altman’s colleagues from OpenAI would also join Microsoft, the tech giant said.

OpenAI’s board of directors — Sutskever, Quora chief executive Adam D’Angelo, tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner, director of strategy and foundational research grants at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology — ousted Altman on Friday saying the its board had “lost confidence in his [Altman’s] leadership abilities”.

Altman’s ouster followed wide-ranging disagreements between the CEO and his board — in particular Sutskever, according to Bloomberg.

Also read | Sam Altman and I are shocked, saddened by what OpenAI board did today: Greg Brockman

The debates included differences of opinion on AI safety, the speed of development of the technology and the commercialisation of the company.

A month ago, Sutskever’s responsibilities at the company were reduced, reflecting friction with Altman and Brockman. Sutskever later appealed to the board, winning over some members.