OPENAI’S Chief executive officer Sam Altman did not engage in conduct that mandated being fired from the company late last year, according to a report based on a months-long investigation into the events leading up to his brief ouster.

WilmerHale, the law firm that conducted the inquiry, found that the board’s decision to fire Altman was a “consequence of a breakdown in the relationship and loss of trust between the prior Board and Mr Altman” rather than arising from concerns about product safety, the pace of development, or OpenAI’s finances or its statements to investors, customers, or business partners, the artificial intelligence startup said Friday (Mar 8).

Altman is rejoining the company’s board following the findings, the artificial intelligence startup said Friday.

OpenAI’s board is also adding Sue Desmond-Hellmann, who previously was head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Nicole Seligman, an ex-Sony Entertainment executive; and Instacart CEO Fidji Simo.

The release of the report and the board additions represent perhaps the most significant steps yet to turn the page on a dramatic period that brought the world’s best-known AI startup to the brink of collapse.

OpenAI’s board ousted Altman in mid-November, saying it had lost confidence in him as a leader, and alleging that he “was not consistently candid” in his communications with them – but directors provided few other details on what prompted the decision. BLOOMBERG

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