OpenAI appoints new boss as Sam Altman joins Microsoft in Silicon Valley twist

Sam Altman was a founding co-chair of the startup that kicked off the generative AI craze a year ago by releasing ChatGPT, a chatbot that became one of the world's fastest-growing software applications.

OpenAI named ex-Twitch boss Emmett Shear as interim CEO, while outgoing chief Sam Altman is set to join backer Microsoft in a surprise turn of events for the startup at the heart of an artificial intelligence boom.

The appointments, settled late at night on Sunday, followed Altman's abrupt departure just days earlier as CEO of the ChatGPT maker, and ended speculation that he could return.