- OpenAI publicized its brand new safety framework on Monday.
- The ChatGPT maker said the board would have the ability to veto decisions made by CEO Sam Altman.
- OpenAI has a new board now, after the previous board fired Altman before swiftly reinstating him.
ChatGPT maker OpenAI is empowering its board with veto powers over the company’s leadership.
The company released a new safety framework on Monday. Dubbed the “Preparedness Framework,” it encapsulates OpenAI’s “processes to track, evaluate, forecast, and protect against catastrophic risks posed by increasingly powerful models.”
OpenAI said in its statement that it would be establishing a “cross-functional Safety Advisory Group.” The group, OpenAI says, would be tasked with reviewing reports on emerging risks before updating the company’s leadership and board of directors.
However, the final decision-making authority would lie with OpenAI’s board rather than CEO Sam Altman.
“While Leadership is the decision-maker, the Board of Directors holds the right to reverse decisions,” OpenAI wrote in its statement.
OpenAI welcomed a new initial board last month after the previous board had briefly ousted Altman from the company. The board currently comprises Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo.
OpenAI’s previous board said in a statement on November 17 that Altman was fired because he “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board.” Altman was eventually reinstated days later after a majority of the staff threatened to quit.
Though the previous board did not elaborate much on its decision to fire Altman, it was widely speculated that it was because they were concerned over Altman’s aggressive approach toward AI innovation.
OpenAI’s brand-new safety framework seems to suggest that Altman and his team would still be held to account by the company’s board.
That would also be in line with what Altman has said publicly.
“No one person should be trusted here. I don’t have super-voting shares. I don’t want them. The board can fire me. I think that’s important,” Altman told Bloomberg’s Emily Chang in June.
Representatives for OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.
