OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is adding new members to its board within the coming month amid increasing regulatory scrutiny.
This follows a restructuring of the company’s governance in November, which saw the temporary dismissal of CEO Sam Altman.
Altman was reappointed following internal and external backlash, with the company also announcing a council to facilitate the formation of a new board structure.
This governance reformation comes when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigates potential misinformation from OpenAI’s investors.
The exact focus of the SEC’s inquiry remains undisclosed.
It’s common for such probes to occur without resulting in formal charges.
However, senior OpenAI staff have been advised to preserve their communications as part of this investigation.
The interim board, tasked with selecting permanent board members, includes notable figures such as former treasury secretary Larry Summers and former Twitter board chairman Bret Taylor.
Despite the interim board’s composition, there has been concern over the lack of diversity, as it currently consists of three White men.
Microsoft, a significant investor in OpenAI, holds a nonvoting observer position on the board.
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The new board members will inherit the challenge of navigating the SEC’s scrutiny and regulatory attention from the European Union and the Federal Trade Commission.
These bodies examine OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft and allegations of ChatGPT leaking user data.
Additionally, OpenAI faces lawsuits from authors and news organizations over using their content without compensation to train its AI models.
The law firm WilmerHale has been commissioned to delve into the circumstances surrounding Altman’s temporary dismissal and the subsequent leadership disputes.
However, the report is yet to be concluded.
