The 'worst moment' of Sam Altman's OpenAI ousting happened just before midnight, Airbnb CEO said

Airbnb's Brian Chesky was reportedly one of the first people OpenAI's Sam Altman contacted when he was fired.

Jemal Countess/Kent Nishimura/Getty

• Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said the "worst moment" of Sam Altman's ousting happened around midnight.
• Chesky said Altman expected to get reinstated but OpenAI then announced Emmett Shear as CEO.
• Altman planned to go to Microsoft but Chesky said his friendship with Shear helped open a dialogue.

Sam Altman has shared glimpses of his brief ousting from OpenAI, like how he operated in an "adrenaline-charged state" and barely ate or slept for the roughly four-day period.

But the hardest moment happened at midnight about two days in, according to an interview with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky on CNBC.

"It was probably 48 hours in," Chesky said. "The board had led us to believe he was going to be reinstated, and right before midnight, we get information that Emmett Shear is now the CEO."

At that point, Chesky said Altman and OpenAI president Greg Brockman said they would go to Microsoft, and it felt like the page had turned. While Chesky said he wanted the two former executives to fight to stay, they were ready to leave if that was best for OpenAI and its employees.

"I thought that was the end of it," Chesky said. "The miraculous thing was, it turns out Emmett Shear is also a friend of mine and that opened a new line of communication." While many other things happened, his relationship with Shear, who ran Twitch before stepping down in March 2023 and who did briefly run OpenAI over that long weekend, helped foster dialog, Chesky said.

While the midnight news might have disappointed Altman, Chesky said he was surprised — in a good way — at how he wasn't acting out of self-preservation throughout the ousting.

"When people are attacked, they typically go to themselves," Chesky said. "And Sam was focused not on himself, but OpenAI and that made me want to fight for him."

Chesky was one of the first people Altman contacted when he was fired, and the two have reportedly been friends for a decade. Altman and Shear mentored Chesky at startup Y Combinator. Both Shear and Chesky worked together to bring Altman back as CEO, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Airbnb and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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