Technology

Sam Altman Won the War for OpenAI. Now Comes Winning the Peace

The company’s CEO is back with near-unanimous employee support—and with thorny governance issues to address.

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By Shirin Ghaffary

November 30, 2023 at 11:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the December 4, 2023 issue of businessweek.

Sam Altman has shown the world that he’s not to be messed with.

Within four days of losing his job as chief executive officer of OpenAI in a surprise boardroom coup, the 38-year-old artificial intelligence phenom won back his position, aided by the support of 730 employees—out of the company’s 770-person workforce—who threatened to quit if the board didn’t bring back Altman.