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Emmett Shear—who cofounded and formerly headed up streaming service Twitch—was named interim CEO of OpenAI on Sunday after Sam Altman’s shocking ouster, only to be replaced around three days later when Altman was reinstated.
In a Tuesday night post on X, Shear insisted he was happy with Altman being brought back to lead OpenAI—even though it meant he would have to step aside.
“I am deeply pleased by this result, after [around] 72 very intense hours of work,” he wrote. “I’m glad to have been a part of the solution.”
Before taking the top job at OpenAI, Shear—who sold his company to Amazon for almost $1 billion in 2014—described himself in his X profile bio as “super opinionated.” That descriptor was swiftly erased and replaced with “interim CEO of OpenAI” when he took the helm of the AI developer. His bio now reads: “Interim ex-CEO of OpenAI.”
Earlier this year, Shear stepped down from Twitch to spend time with his baby son.
“I want to be fully there for my son as he enters this world, and I feel ready for this change to tackle new challenges,” he said at the time.
He took the job at ChatGPT developer OpenAI—a gig he labeled a “once in a lifetime opportunity”—after his predecessor was ousted from the firm over apparent friction with its board of directors.
Responding to a question on X at the time, Shear said he had been made OpenAI’s CEO “rapidly and unexpectedly.”
Despite being thrust into the position so quickly, Shear had already outlined a three-point plan for his first 30 days at OpenAI, which included launching an investigation into what went wrong at the company, engaging with employees, investors, and customers, and reshaping company governance.
It is unclear what Shear’s next career move will be now that he has handed the OpenAI reins back to Altman.
Sam Altman reinstated as OpenAI CEO
Late Tuesday night, OpenAI announced that Altman was to be reinstated as CEO and that the company’s board would be almost entirely replaced with new members including ex–U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor.