At the end of last year, OpenAI’s internal high-level “coup” incident once attracted the attention of global investors. Although OpenAI's high-level personnel structure has been basically stable after Altman returned to the CEO position and the company's board of directors was reorganized, the aftermath of this incident has not yet subsided. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly reviewing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s internal communications to investigate whether the company’s investors were misled.
In November last year, the OpenAI board of directors suddenly decided to remove Altman from his position as CEO and expel him from the board of directors. This news shocked the global technology community, and thus kicked off the "palace battle" of OpenAI.
OpenAI's board of directors said at the time, "We have concluded that Altman has not always been candid in his communications with the board of directors, hindering the board's ability to perform its duties." However, the board of directors did not elaborate on where Altman was not candid.
However, this "palace fight" drama came to an end in just a few days, ending in Altman's victory: He returned to the company as CEO a few days after leaving his job, and the company's board of directors was reorganized and replaced by former Salesforce co-CEO Brett Taylor as chairman.
Although this "coup" ended quickly, many details of the OpenAI "coup" are still unclear to many outside "meat-eating people". For example, the timing of the board's announcement of Altman's dismissal was sudden and without warning, and the board's statement did not specifically explain their accusations of "dishonesty" against Altman. All this makes people look forward to more "big melons" being dug out.
The report quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that after this "coup" incident, the US Securities Regulatory Commission immediately intervened and has been seeking internal communication records from OpenAI's current and former senior personnel and directors, and issued a subpoena to the company in December last year.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has always explicitly prohibited companies (whether listed or not) from misleading investors when raising funds. Therefore, it is not surprising that OpenAI’s board of directors claimed that Altman’s “dishonest communication” would attract the attention of the SEC.
However, the SEC's investigation may not uncover any wrongdoing by the parties involved. According to people familiar with the matter,At present, the SEC has not pointed out that Altman has any specific statements or communication records that are misleading.
A person with direct knowledge of the board's thinking revealed that the reason why the board claimed that Altman was "dishonest" during last year's "coup" was because of Altman's pattern of behavior rather than because he had committed a shocking act.
After Ultraman returned at the end of last year, OpenAI selected two lawyers from the WilmerHale law firm to investigate the company's "coup" incident. WilmerHale's investigation is expected to wrap up and issue a report within weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.