The company’s board fired CEO Sam Altman, the face of generative AI, a technology that allows AI to create human-like content. Mira Murati, OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer, will serve as interim CEO while the company conducts a search for a permanent CEO. The company declined to provide details of Altman’s departure, and OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman also resigned. The four-person board now consists of three independent directors and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever. OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, released ChatGPT last November, causing a boom in generative AI. Despite the sudden change in leadership, Microsoft reaffirmed its partnership with OpenAI, expressing support for the future of the company. Elon Musk once co-chaired OpenAI, and other executives departed in 2020 to found a competitor, Anthropic. The departure of Altman raised concerns about OpenAI’s fundraising prospects, but analysts remain optimistic about the company’s future. Despite the upheaval at the company, generative AI’s popularity is expected to continue, and Microsoft’s stake in OpenAI ensures that appropriate leadership changes are implemented.