Sam Altman has once again become the CEO of OpenAI.

Shortly before Thanksgiving, the company announced that it had reached a preliminary agreement for his return, and now that agreement has been realized. OpenAI announced on Wednesday that Microsoft will become a non-voting observer on the nonprofit board that controls OpenAI.

"I have never been more excited about the future," Altman said in a memo to employees. "I am extremely grateful for everyone's hard work in uncertain and unprecedented times, and I believe our resilience and spirit are unparalleled in the industry. I feel very, very good about our chances of success in achieving our mission."

Of the four board members who decided to abruptly dismiss Altman, three have now left, and the new board of OpenAI consists of Chairman Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and the only member from the previous board, Adam D'Angelo.

Adding Microsoft as a "non-voting observer" to the board of directors of OpenAI means that the tech giant will have a better understanding of the company's internal operations but no formal voting rights in major decisions. Microsoft is the main investor in OpenAI, owning 49% of the for-profit entity controlled by the nonprofit board. Until now, Microsoft had not been in the sight of the board. The dismissal of Altman was a surprising event that threatened to disrupt one of the most important partnerships in the tech industry, Microsoft.

In his memo to employees, Altman stated that he had "no ill will" towards Ilya Sutskever, the co-founder and chief scientist of OpenAI, who initially participated in the board coup and then changed his mind after almost all employees threatened to resign if Altman did not return. "Although Ilya is no longer a board member, we hope to continue our collaboration and are discussing how he can continue to work at OpenAI," Altman said.

"The fact that we haven't lost a single customer will motivate us to work even harder for you," he told the employees.

Below is the full memo that Sam Altman shared with OpenAI employees:

"I will return to OpenAI as CEO. Mira will return to her role as CTO. The new interim board will consist of Bret Taylor (Chairman), Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo."

I have never been more excited about the future. I am extremely grateful for everyone's hard work in uncertain and unprecedented times, and I believe our resilience and spirit are unparalleled in the industry. I feel very, very good about our chances of success in achieving our mission.

Before discussing what comes next, I want to express some thanks.

I love and respect Ilya, and I think he is a guiding light in the field and a gem of a human. I have no ill will. Although Ilya is no longer a board member, we hope to continue our collaboration and are discussing how he can continue to work at OpenAI.

I appreciate Adam, Tasha, and Helen working with us to find the best solution to serve the mission. I look forward to continuing to work with Adam and am sincerely grateful to Helen and Tasha for their tremendous efforts throughout this process.

Thanks to Emmett for playing a critical and constructive role in helping us reach this outcome. Emmett's dedication to AI safety and balancing stakeholder interests is evident.

Mira has done an outstanding job throughout this process, selflessly serving the mission, the team, and the company. She is an exceptional leader, and there would be no OpenAI without her. Thank you.

Greg and I have been partners in running this company. We have never quite figured out how to express that on an org chart, but we will. In the meantime, I just want to make it clear. Thank you for everything you have done from the very beginning until now, and for everything you have done in the moments leading up to and over the past few days.

The leadership team—Mira, Brad, Jason, Che, Hannah, Diane, Anna, Bob, Srinivas, Matt, Lilian, Miles, Jan, Wojciech, John, Jonathan, Pat, and more—has clearly been ready to run the company without me. One way to evaluate a CEO is how you pick and train your potential successors; by that standard, I have done much better than I realized. I see very clearly that the company is in very good hands, and I hope that is very clear to everyone. Thank you all.

Jakub, Szymon, and Aleksander are exceptional talents, and I am thrilled to have them back to drive our research forward. Thank you.

To all of our team members: I believe there will be books written about this time, and I hope they first mention how incredible the entire team was. Now that we have made it through, without losing a single employee. You have come together, supported each other, this company, and our mission. One of the most important things in building a team to build safe AGI is being able to handle high-pressure, uncertain situations and always maintain good judgment. A+. Thank you all.

Satya, Kevin, Amy, and Brad have been incredible partners throughout this process, always with the right priorities. They have supported us and have been ready to welcome all of us if we couldn't achieve our main goals. It is clear that our choice to work with Microsoft was the right one, and I am glad that they will be included in our new board as non-voting observers. Thank you.

Will, Bryan, Bret, and Larry have put their lives on hold and done a tremendous amount of work to support the mission. I don't know how they have done it so well, but they really have. Thank you.

Oli has also put his life on hold and done everything he can to help, in addition to his usual unconditional love and support. Thank you, I love you.

What comes next?

We have three immediate priorities.

● Advance our research agenda and further invest in our full-stack safety work, which has always been at the core of our work. Our research roadmap is clear; this is a moment of focus. I share the excitement of all of you; we will turn this crisis into an opportunity! I will work hard with Mira.

● Continue to improve and deploy our products, serving our customers. It is important for people to experience the benefits and potential of AI and have the opportunity to shape it. We continue to believe that great products are the best way to do this. I will work with Brad, Jason, and Anna to ensure that we continue our unwavering commitment to users, customers, partners, and governments around the world.

● Bret, Larry, and Adam will work very hard on the critically important task of building a qualified board with diverse perspectives, improving our governance structure, and overseeing an independent review of the recent events. I look forward to working closely with them to take these critical steps so that everyone can have confidence in the stability of OpenAI.

I am very much looking forward to working with all of you to accomplish the mission of building beneficial AGI—the best team in the world, the best mission in the world.

Love, Sam"

Below is the full memo that OpenAI Board Chairman Bret Taylor sent to employees:

"On behalf of the OpenAI Board, I want to express our gratitude to every member of the OpenAI community, especially all of OpenAI's employees, for helping the company find a path forward. Your efforts have helped this incredible organization continue to serve its mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. We are excited to see Sam, Mira, and Greg once again leading the charge and propelling the company forward. We look forward to working with them and all of you.

As a board, we are focused on strengthening OpenAI's corporate governance. We plan to do the following:

● We will establish a qualified, diverse board consisting of outstanding individuals whose collective experience represents the breadth of OpenAI's mission—from technology to safety to policy. We are excited that this board will include a non-voting observer from Microsoft.

● We will further stabilize the OpenAI organization so that we can continue to serve our mission. This will include convening an independent committee of the board to conduct a review of the recent events.

● We will strengthen OpenAI's governance structure so that all stakeholders—users, customers, employees, partners, and community members—can trust that OpenAI will continue to thrive.

OpenAI is more important than ever. ChatGPT has made artificial intelligence a part of the daily lives of hundreds of millions of people. Its popularity has made AI—the benefits and risks it presents—the centerpiece of almost every discussion about the future of government, business, and society.

We understand the importance of these discussions and OpenAI's central role in developing and safeguarding these awe-inspiring new technologies. Each and every one of you plays a crucial role in ensuring that we effectively address these challenges. We are committed to listening and learning from you, and I hope to speak with all of you soon.

We are grateful to be a part of OpenAI and look forward to working with all of you.

Thank you,

Bret Taylor

OpenAI Board Chairman"