--- title: "Ex-OpenAI Board Member Refuses to Say Why She Fired Sam Altman" description: "The now-former OpenAI board member who was instrumental in the firing of Sam Altman has spoken — but she's still staying mum where it matters." date: "2023-12-07" modified: "2023-12-07" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-board-member-fired-altman" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "anthropic" - "OpenAI" - "sam altman" - "the digest" --- # Ex-OpenAI Board Member Refuses to Say Why She Fired Sam Altman ![The now-former OpenAI board member who was instrumental in the firing of Sam Altman has spoken — but she's still staying mum where it matters.]() *\Image: Jerod Harris / Getty Images for Vox Media / Futurism\* ## Mum's The Word The now-former OpenAI board member who was instrumental in the initial firing of CEO Sam Altman has spoken — but she's still staying mum on why she pushed him out in the first place. In an [interview with the *Wall Street Journal*](), 31-year-old Georgetown machine learning researcher and erstwhile OpenAI board member Helen Toner was fairly open with her responses about the logistics of the [failed coup]() at the company, but terse when it came to the [reasoning behind it](). "Our goal in firing Sam was to strengthen OpenAI and make it more able to achieve its mission," the Australian-born researcher said as her only explanation of the headline-grabbing chain of events. As the [*New York Times* reported]() in the midst of the [Thanksgiving hubbub](), Toner and Altman butted heads the month prior because she [published a paper]() critical of the firm's safety protocols (or lack thereof) and laudatory of those undertaken by Anthropic, which was created by former OpenAI employees who [left over similar concerns](). Altman reportedly confronted Toner during their meeting and because he believed, per emails viewed by the *NYT*, that "any amount of criticism from a board member carries a lot of weight." After the tense exchange, the CEO brought his concerns about Toner's criticisms up with other board members, which ended up reinforcing those board members' own doubts about his leadership, the *WSJ* reports. Soon after, Altman himself was on the chopping block over vague allegations of dishonesty — although we *still* don't know what exactly he was supposedly being dishonest about. ## Intimidating As the company weathered its tumult amid a [nearly full-scale revolt from staffers]() who said they'd leave and follow Altman to Microsoft if he wasn't reinstated, Toner and OpenAI cofounder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever ended up resigning, the report explains, which paved the way for the [CEO's return](). In her interview with the *WSJ*, however, the Georgetown researcher suggested that her resignation was forced by a company attorney. "\[The attorney\] was trying to claim that it would be illegal for us not to resign immediately," Toner said, "because if the company fell apart we would be in breach of our fiduciary duties." With the exit of the Aussie academic and Rand Corporation scientist Tasha McCauley, another of those who voted for Altman's ouster, from the board, there are now [no women on OpenAI's governing body]() — but in this interview at least, Toner was all class. "I think looking forward," she said, "is the best path from here." **More on OpenAI:** [*Sam Altman Got So Many Texts After Being Fired It Broke His Phone*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()