
The drama around OpenAI, its board, and Sam Altman has been a fascinating story that raises a number of ethical leadership issues. What are the responsibilities that OpenAI’s board, Sam Altman, and Microsoft held during these quickly moving events? Whose interests should have held priority during this saga and why?
Let’s start with the board. We still don’t know in what way Altman was not straightforward with his board. We do know nonprofit boards–and OpenAI is, by design, governed by a nonprofit board–have a special duty to ensure the organization is meeting its mission. If they feel the CEO is not fulfilling that mission, they have cause to act.