OpenAI has reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to the company as chief executive days after he was fired.

Last Friday it was announced that Altman, who was shortly afterwards hired by Microsoft to oversee a new advanced AI research team, had been let go from the company for failing to be "consistently candid" with the board.

“Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities," wrote OpenAI in a blog post. "The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”

It is unclear beyond the blog post what Altman was “not consistently candid” about, with Altman recently playing down rumours that he had discussed the prospect of creating the “iPhone of artificial intelligence” with former Apple designer Jony Ive.

Following the move, OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman resigned from his role as president of the company.

OpenAI subsequently faced pressure from staff who threatened mass resignations if it did not reinstate Altman.

“We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D'Angelo,” wrote the company on X. “We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this.”

Brockman has since also returned to his role at the company.

"I love OpenAI, and everything I’ve done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together," wrote Altman on X. "When I decided to join msft [Microsoft] on sun evening, it was clear that was the best path for me and the team.

"With the new board and w Satya’s [chief executive of Microsoft] support, I’m looking forward to returning to OpenAI, and building on our strong partnership with msft."

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