OpenAI's New Board Directors: Get to Know Them

OpenAI has just named the new members that will be joining its board of directors in a move past its leadership shakeup in November last year.

They will be joining the three-person board (Adam D'Angelo, Larry Summers, and chair Bret Taylor) in handling affairs and decisions of one of the biggest AI firms in the industry.

All decorated individuals in the tech industry, these people are expected to lead the AI startup amid turbulent times from lawsuits, calls for regulations, and potential dangers of its products.

Here are they:

Sam Altman

The most notable name on the list is the person center of the previous leadership fiasco that caused most of its board members to leave, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Altman is among the primary founders of the company in 2015 and has headed it since, aiming to "ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity."

Before becoming a significant figure in AI development, Altman is known for his investments across Silicon Valley, including accelerator startup Y Combinator and nuclear energy companies.

It is worth noting that many of Altman's invested companies also have a record with OpenAI, often receiving huge investments to develop their own technologies.

Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann

Next on the list is Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Desmond-Hellman is a prominent figure in Medtech and healthcare businesses, being part of several big pharmaceutical firms like Pfizer and biotech corporation Genentech.

She also serves as an advisor for Google Ventures, an investment subsidiary of Alphabet, as well as a former board member of Facebook until 2019.

Among her most notable achievements is heading a development team for the first gene-targeted drug research to cure breast cancer.

Nicole Seligman

A lawyer and a civic leader, Nicole Seligman has been part of American politics for a long time.

Among her most notable clients was the impeached President Bill Clinton. She also worked on the cases involving CNN's Operation Tailwind coverage and ABC network as a partner of Williams & Connolly LLP.

Seligman served as the president, global legal, and general counsel at Sony Corp of America.

The attorney has notable investments in Paramount, MeiraGTx Holdings PLC, and Intuitive Machines. She also holds several leadership positions in non-profit organizations and foundations.

Fidji Simo

OpenAI best described Fidji Simo as a "consumer technology industry veteran," boasting a 15-year record in operations, strategy, and product development of several retail businesses worldwide.

Before becoming Instacart's CEO, Simo was the vice president and head of the Facebook app.

It is worth noting that Instacart has been among the e-commerce companies in the US that have started leaning more into AI technology to compete with Amazon and other food retail services.

Simo also held Series A investments across several third-party tech startups and insurance firms since 2021.