Shortly after the surprising removal of top executive Sam Altman, Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear has been appointed as the interim CEO of OpenAI, a Microsoft-backed firm. Confirming the development on X (formerly Twitter), Shear expressed his acceptance of this “once in a lifetime” opportunity.

Altman was dismissed by the OpenAI board last Friday for “not being candid in his communication.” Shear has immediately taken on the responsibilities of interim CEO, outlining a three-point plan for the company’s future.

In a post on X, Shear stated, “Today I got a call inviting me to consider a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to become the interim CEO of @OpenAI. After consulting with my family and reflecting on it for just a few hours, I accepted.”

Before officially taking the position, Shear investigated the reasons behind Altman’s removal, clarifying that it was not related to any specific disagreement on safety. He emphasised that the board’s reasoning was “completely different”, and he wouldn’t have accepted the role without board support for commercialising their models.

Shear shared his three-point plan for the initial 30 days as the interim CEO of OpenAI:

1. Hire an independent investigator to examine the entire process leading up to this point and generate a comprehensive report.

2. Continue engaging with employees, partners, investors, and customers, taking thorough notes and sharing key takeaways.

3. Reform the management and leadership team in light of recent departures to create an effective force driving results for customers.

An hour prior to Shear’s announcement, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirmed the hiring of Sam Altman to lead an AI research team at Microsoft. Altman, who was rumored to be starting his own AI firm, had conflicts with the OpenAI board due to his opinions on AI safety and technology expansion.