What does the recent ousting of Sam Altman from OpenAI mean for the AI industry?

No more than a  year took ChatGPT—A conversation AI—to be introduced to the world and dissolve into our lives. OpenAI, the chatbot company, has achieved drastic developments and is now on the verge of GPT-5’s launch. No one would have expected the tragedy of such prosperity. Sam Altman, the renowned CEO of OpenAI and the father of ChatGPT, was officially dismissed from his occupation upon the board’s determination. The world was shocked by the surprising ouster. The blog post penned on OpenAI’s website claimed that Sam Altman “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board”. The certainty prevailed that Altman’s rising tension between Ilya Sustkever—a co-founder of OpenAI and a member of the board—had triggered a so-called ‘coup d’état’ amongst the company. Sutskever, who supposed the possible danger of AI covered under the rapid development, wasn’t successful in cooperating with Altman’s commercial attempt. For example, altering the GPT-5 to paid service.  

Ultimately, his ouster destabilised the AI industries. Federal governments and big companies who were to invest in AI companies with billions of dollars could be now doubting the stability of the AI industry. It means there is a quest being set, where AI companies need to show the stability and safety of their business to attract investors and foster. Furthermore, Altman was at the centre of the expeditious launch of new products and has always been a trailblazer in the AI race. This kind of setback will hamper their own pace, which indicates that its competitors (Google Bard, Microsoft Bing, etc.) are provided with the time to develop further. This occurrence poses a significant meaning to the whole industry that now OpenAI is not the one who gets to choose the flavour. Moreover, AI startups and ventures that utilise the technology of openAI would reconsider whether is it rational to rely upon a single company. In light of these points, the sacking of Altman implies that the whole industry is at stake on one hand. On the other hand, it means opportunity for Altman’s competitors.