OpenAI encourages staff to focus on work despite ongoing boardroom chaos

By Shirin Ghaffary

It’s time to “get back to shipping” products, a senior OpenAI manager told staffers Tuesday, part of an effort to get the company focused on developing software and forging partnerships instead of the will-he-won’t-he drama over whether Sam Altman, summarily fired by the board Friday, will return to the chief executive officer role.
 

In a message to OpenAI employees on Tuesday, Peter Deng, a vice president of product, said that “we decided that the best way to channel our energy” is developing products, according to a note reviewed by Bloomberg. 

The message, posted on an internal Slack channel, also said that employees could order pizza and expense it. Most of them aren’t in the office because the company has Thanksgiving week off. “Raise a slice and share a photo in the thread so we can enjoy this moment together,” Deng wrote. He signed off, “One team, one mission” with a pizza emoji.

The fate of OpenAI has been in limbo for days, starting with the board of directors’ shock firing of Altman on Friday, followed by high-stakes negotiations to get him reinstated. Almost all of the company’s employees have said they would resign from OpenAI if Altman were not brought back, among other demands. 

People familiar with the negotiations around possibly returning Altman to the company have said that the groups want to reach a resolution before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Deng also said in the message that the company would make its Voice product available for free for ChatGPT users, a move it also posted about on X, formerly Twitter. The Voice feature lets the chatbot respond to spoken questions and commands with its own speech.

Stressing that the company was still operating despite the boardroom chaos, Deng pointed to a post on X from Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap, in which the COO emphasized OpenAI’s commitment to customers in response to the suggestion that competitors were trying to capitalize on the company’s leadership upheaval to poach its business. 

Deng said in the note that the company met with Boston Consulting Group Tuesday morning to discuss expanding its partnership with the OpenAI, and that BCG complimented its “mojo with culture and leadership.” In the memo, Deng said, “We are grateful to have heard from dozens of customers who emphasized their support.”