Deposition testimony reveals Mira Murati's pivotal role in Sam Altman's removal from OpenAI
Text messages and a 2022 document surfaced during proceedings show Murati initiated management critiques that led to Altman's ouster, though she later supported his reinstatement.
Testimony from Mira Murati's deposition in the Musk v. Altman trial has provided new details regarding Sam Altman's removal as OpenAI CEO in November 2023. The evidence indicates Murati played a significant role in initiating internal concerns about Altman's management and transparency, which were escalated to the board via a memo from co-founder Ilya Sutskever.
While Murati was initially named interim CEO following the ouster, she later supported Altman's reinstatement. Text messages between the two reveal her assessment that the board's decision to remove Altman was final and that she did not want her name on the public statement justifying the termination. The deposition also highlighted a 2022 document where Murati previously criticised Altman's leadership style and management approach.
Specific exchanges between Murati and Altman over a 14-hour period in late November 2023 confirm the board wanted a new leader in place that night, not Murati. Former board member Helen Toner testified that Murati appeared strikingly unsupportive and remarkably passive after the ouster, seemingly waiting to see which way the wind blew while realising she had legitimised the decision herself.
A September 30, 2022, document written by Murati listed complaints about Altman's management style, including claims of constant panic, chaos and churn, and a misalignment on the importance of the applied AI team. During the deposition, Murati asserted that her criticisms were completely management related and that she was asking Altman to lead with clarity rather than undermining her ability to do her job.
The trial evidence suggests the board's vague blog post announcing Altman's ouster sparked immediate conspiracy theories, with the impetus allegedly being a pattern of lying or omission by Altman regarding safety processes and ownership stakes. Despite the public nature of the power play, one unassuming character seemed to be everywhere at once: OpenAI CTO Mira Murati.
Murati signed the first letter from over 750 OpenAI employees threatening to quit, yet had previously told the board she would not serve as interim CEO unless the decision to fire Altman was legitimised. Toner noted that Murati did not seem to understand she had a pivotal role to play in legitimising the decision herself, appearing totally uninterested in telling her team that her conversations with the board had been a significant factor in firing Sam.
