Sam Altman named as Time magazine's CEO of the Year
Altman told Time that OpenAI will be in the artificial intelligence race for the foreseeable future unless they 'really screw up badly'
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OpenAI founder Sam Altman has been chosen by Time magazine as "CEO of the year."
Altman, who recently wrestled control of the company he founded back from a runaway board, has returned to the forefront of artificial intelligence development.
"Building superintelligence is going to be a society-wide project," Altman told Time. "We would like to be one of the shapers, but it’s not going to be something that one company just does. It will be far bigger than any one company."
SAM ALTMAN HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN REINSTATED ATOP OPENAI AS CEO
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman looks on during the APEC CEO Summit at Moscone West in San Francisco. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)
"And I think we’re in a position where we’re gonna get to provide that input no matter what at this point. Unless we really screw up badly," he added.
Altman confirmed last month that he was returning to the helm at OpenAI as CEO, nearly two weeks after he was ousted from the company he co-founded.
OpenAI was in turmoil following Altman's ouster, as nearly all the company's 770 or so employees signed a letter threatening to join Altman at Microsoft unless he was reinstated, and the board stepped down.
OPENAI BRINGS BACK SAM ALTMAN AS CEO, ESTABLISHES NEW BOARD DAYS AFTER CO-FOUNDER'S OUSTER
The ChatGPT and OpenAI website is displayed on a mobile phone screen. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
In a blog post on OpenAI, Altman said he was returning, his replacement would resume their previous role and the new initial board would consist of Bret Taylor as chair, Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo.
Altman then went into three immediate priorities for the artificial intelligence company, which are advancing the research plan, continuing to improve and deploy products while serving customers, and expanding its board.
"We’re unable to disclose specific details until the board’s independent review is complete. We look forward to the findings of the review and continue to stand behind Sam," an OpenAI spokesperson told Time magazine.
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Sam Altman, left, and company co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, speak together at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv. (JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The spokesperson added, "Our primary focus remains on developing and releasing useful and safe AI, and supporting the new board as they work to make improvements to our governance structure."
ChatGPT — OpenAI's flagship product — celebrated its one-year anniversary on Nov. 30.
A UBS study released on Feb. 1 estimated that ChatGPT had reached 100 million active users in January – just two months after its launch – making it one of the fastest-growing consumer applications in history.
Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner and Breck Dumas contributed to this report.