- OpenAI staff reportedly celebrated Sam Altman’s return with a party on Tuesday night.
- The event included a smoke machine that set off a fire alarm, according to the report.
- Dozens of OpenAI employees also took to social media to celebrate Altman’s return.
OpenAI employees celebrated Sam Altman’s return on Tuesday night — and apparently some fire trucks even got involved.
Staff drank and partied at the company’s headquarters in San Francisco after OpenAI announced Altman had been reinstated, according to a report from The Information.
The publication said that the party even included a smoke machine which triggered a fire alarm and sent two fire trucks to the building. Nonetheless, staff continued to celebrate in the nearby courtyard, according to the report.
OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman also posted a photo with dozens of his colleagues to commemorate the moment.
“We are so back,” Brockman, who had quit shortly after Altman’s ousting, wrote on X.
Spokespeople for OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Altman’s return comes after a five-day saga in which OpenAI ousted Altman with little public explanation and went through two more CEOs.
After Altman was abruptly ousted, the vast majority of OpenAI staff signed an open letter threatening to leave the company if the board would not resign and reinstate Altman. The employees had also expressed their support for Altman on social media, kicking off a flood of heart emoji posts on X, formerly known as Twitter.
After OpenAI announced it was bringing the CEO back and making a series of changes to its board of directors, OpenAI staff was quick to celebrate the moment on X.
“It’s not just that we’re so back,” one X user @yonashav, who claims to work for OpenAI wrote. “The truth is, this is better than before. We can now more effectively ensure the development of safe AGI for the benefit of all humanity.”
“Almost 8 years at OpenAI, and I’ve never been more proud to work here,” @clarkcr wrote on X. “Our team remained united throughout this entire ordeal and emerged stronger than ever.”
Others OpenAI staff took the moment to poke fun at Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff’s attempts to poach talent from OpenAI amid the chaos of the past week.
“sorry @Benioff but we’re too busy being so back,” @stevenheidel wrote.
OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, who was briefly the CEO of OpenAI after Altman was ousted and was later replaced by Emmett Shear, responded to the news on X with a blue heart emoji.
Shear, who was CEO of OpenAI for 72 hours before Altman was reinstated, said he was “deeply pleased” by the news.
“Coming into OpenAI, I wasn’t sure what the right path would be,” Shear wrote on X. “This was the pathway that maximized safety alongside doing right by all stakeholders involved. I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.”
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