Last week, OpenAI rushed to announce it had fired well-liked CEO Sam Altman, upending the tech industry. This decision, was made by 4 board members and driven by a very vague statements around lack of transparency, governance concerns and some other garbled excuses from the nonprofit board, alongside Altman’s for-profit commercialization push.
Needless to say it led to a crazy stock market, a weekend saga and hundreds of LinkedIn discussions, X and Threads postings. Microsoft along with investors tried to influence the board to reconsider and signed letters in support to reinstate Altman. Employees demanded his return or they'd quit in droves.
However that feel on deaf ears and Emmett Shear, was announced Monday as CEO of OpenAI. Then the stories of his past postings emerged. Microsoft rallies and gives Altman a landing place. Microsoft acted swiftly and look like heroes and super smart!
From a PR perspective, this is a PR 101 example how NOT to handle a company firing. With OpenAI now fighting for survival, the move by the bard can go down as the blackest Friday in news we've seen to date.
There are many ways to have done this better. All companies could benefit from tabletop exercises and crisis plans that address these types of situations!
No comments:
Post a Comment