Report: After Altman firing, OpenAI tried to merge with rival—and was rejected
Enlarge / Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, during a hearing on AI held by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)
After firing CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI's board of directors reached out to the CEO of its rival, Anthropic, to propose a merger, but the proposal was quickly rejected, according to news reports. The board approached Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei "about a potential merger of the two companies" as "part of an effort by OpenAI to persuade Amodei to replace Altman as CEO," The Information reported yesterday, citing "a person with direct knowledge" of the contact.
"It's not clear whether the merger proposal led to any serious discussion. Amodei quickly turned down the CEO offer due to his position at Anthropic," The Information wrote.
The report was subsequently confirmed by Reuters. "OpenAI's board of directors approached rival Anthropic's CEO about replacing chief Sam Altman and potentially merging the two AI startups, according to two people briefed on the matter," Reuters wrote. "Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei declined on both fronts, the people said."