by OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap addressed the firing of CEO Sam Altman in a brief message to employees on Saturday.
Lightcap wrote in a memo obtained by CNBC that everyone was surprised and that he had many conversations with the board to understand their decision.
“We can say with certainty that the board's decision was not made in response to wrongdoing or anything related to our financial, business, security, or security/privacy practices,” he wrote.
Lightcap responded to similar comments made by the company on Friday, citing a “breakdown in communication” between Altman and the board.
He wrote that discussions and options about the way forward are ongoing, but that the company remains strong and Microsoft is a fully committed partner.
Here's the full memo that Lightcap shared with employees Saturday morning:
“The Team – After yesterday's announcement, which took us all by surprise, we had many conversations with the board to better understand the reasons and process behind their decision. Those discussions and our options moving forward are ongoing this morning.
We can assure you that the Board's decision was not made in response to wrongdoing or anything related to our financial, business, security, or security/privacy practices. It was a communication breakdown between Sam and the Council. Our position as a company remains extremely strong and Microsoft remains fully committed to our partnership.
Mira has our full support as CEO. We still share your concerns about how the process went, are working to resolve the situation, and will provide updates as soon as possible.
I'm sure you're all feeling confused, sad, and maybe a little scared. We are completely focused on getting this resolved, moving toward resolution and clarity, and getting back to work. Our collective responsibility now is to our teammates, partners, customers, consumers and the wider world who share our vision of broadly beneficial AGI. Hang in there, we're all behind you 1000%.”
