OpenAI has a new Chairman: Meet Bret Taylor, tech genius behind Googe Maps, CEO of Salesforce

Following a period of internal turmoil marked by a boardroom struggle, Sam Altman has successfully reclaimed his position as CEO of OpenAI. Altman, who faced an attempted ousting, not only resumes his role as CEO but is joined by former president Greg Brockman, who resigned in protest of Altman’s initial firing.

In an official statement released late on Tuesday, OpenAI confirmed an “agreement in principle” for Altman’s return, revealing a restructured board lineup. The new board will be chaired by Bret Taylor, a highly regarded figure in the tech industry, alongside Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo.

Adam D’Angelo, known for his role as the co-founder and CEO of Quora and former Facebook CTO, joined the OpenAI board in 2018. With a long-standing involvement in AI and machine learning, D’Angelo has been a key figure in the industry since high school when he co-developed the Synapse Media Player alongside Mark Zuckerberg, utilizing ML algorithms for song recommendations.

At Quora, D’Angelo spearheaded the launch of Poe, a generative AI chatbot platform featuring diverse AI models such as ChatGPT, Sage, Claude-instant, Claude-instant-100k, and Claude+. Poe offers users a range of chatbot personalities, fostering engaging dialogues with AI. Quora is actively developing an API to integrate AI developers’ models into Poe, expanding its accessibility and functionalities, and recently introduced creator monetization to generate revenue.

Then, we have Bret Taylor, who has a notable history in the tech sector and has assumed the position of Chairman of OpenAI. Most prominently, he co-created Google Maps and held significant positions at Facebook (now Meta Platforms), Twitter, and Salesforce.

Taylor’s journey began at Google in 2003, where he played a crucial role in the development of Google Maps before venturing into entrepreneurship. Co-founding FriendFeed, he guided the company until its acquisition by Facebook in 2009, where he eventually rose up to the position of CTO.

Subsequent to FriendFeed, Taylor founded Quip, a company that later acquired by Salesforce, where he assumed key leadership roles. At Salesforce, he was also appointed as the CEO.

The recent changes in OpenAI’s leadership, with Altman’s reinstatement and Taylor’s appointment as chairman, mark a new chapter for the organization after a period of internal discord. The “agreement in principle” signifies a commitment to stability and a forward-looking approach under the guidance of the reconfigured board.

(With input from agencies)