The former OpenAI CEO has been open about his personal life, particularly his journey as a gay individual. Altman, who addressed his high school community about his sexuality at the age of 17, has been a vocal advocate for diversity. He currently lives with his partner Australian programmer Oliver Mulherin. The couple has expressed their desire to start a family together.
Altman’s official foray into the tech world began when he dropped out of Stanford University along with two classmates to work full-time on the startup Loopt. Despite its $175 million valuation, the app was sold for $43 million in 2012.
Altman, however, continued to make waves in Silicon Valley, co-founding Hydrazine Capital and then joining Y Combinator as its president in 2014.
His career peaked with the co-founding of OpenAI in 2015, a venture that attracted significant attention and investment, including a $1 billion investment from Microsoft in 2019.
Under Altman’s leadership, OpenAI became a leading authority in artificial intelligence, culminating in the groundbreaking launch of ChatGPT in November 2022.
However, his illustrious career hit a surprise snag on 17 November, when he was fired. The decision, taken during an unplanned board meeting, apparently shocked Altman and the tech community alike. Giving the lie to speculation about a possible return under pressure from key investors, the board ultimately appointed Emmett Shear as the interim CEO, closing the door on Altman’s return to the company he co-founded.
Altman was not to be down for long, however, even though out. He got snapped up by Microsoft in a swift, smart strategic move by its CEO Satya Nadella, to lead its new advanced AI research team.
The Microsoft CEO announced the addition of Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman to the company’s growing AI research efforts on X.
In parallel, of OpenAI’s 770 employees, a staggering 747 (according to a Financial Times report) appended their signatures to a petition threatening to join them if Altman was not brought back, in a collective letter to the board.
