A new report states that federal regulators are looking into whether OpenAI investors were provided with accurate information during CEO Sam Altman’s sudden removal and subsequent reinstatement.
In December, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission had sent a subpoena to the creator of ChatGPT, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The report lacks details on how investors believe they were given false information. Altman’s internal communications are currently under investigation.
Following the former OpenAI board’s decision in November to remove Sam Altman as CEO and expel him from the board, an investigation is now underway. He came back as CEO a few days later following a rebellion by employees and shareholders.
According to the board of the startup, they found that he was not consistently honest in his communications with them, which made it difficult for them to fulfill their duties.
According to The Journal, some sources characterized the investigation as a natural reaction to the former board’s assertion in its November statement.
The report mentioned that the SEC has not identified any specific statement or communication by Altman that it considers misleading, according to one source.
Altman resumed his position as CEO shortly after being removed, and OpenAI introduced a new initial board led by former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor.
Officials in New York have requested that certain senior OpenAI executives retain internal documents while they investigate, according to the WSJ.
The SEC chose not to provide a comment regarding the potential investigation, while OpenAI and Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment right away.
The investigation is happening as Altman is said to be in discussions to secure funding for a massive chip project, potentially raising up to $7 trillion.
This investment amount is truly remarkable and sets a new standard in the world of venture capital. It surpasses the total market value of Apple and Microsoft combined, as well as the yearly GDP of Japan and Germany.
Altman is aiming to address significant challenges in the fast-growing AI industry, such as the scarcity of costly computer chips required for advanced language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
OpenAI recently finalized a deal that values the Microsoft-backed startup at $80 billion or more, according to a report by the New York Times earlier this month.
OpenAI reached the $2 billion annualized revenue milestone in December, as reported by the Financial Times, based on information from two sources familiar with the AI start-up’s finances.
OpenAI is confident that it can increase this figure significantly by 2025, driven by the high demand from business customers looking to integrate generative AI tools into their operations.
The company’s yearly revenue increased from $1.3 billion as of mid-October, as reported by The Information, due to rapid sales growth and the success of its ChatGPT product.
