Altman 'Text-Bombed' Murati to Win Back OpenAI CEO Role

Unsealed Texts Reveal Altman's Desperate Push to Return

Newly disclosed evidence from the Elon Musk v. Sam Altman lawsuit has laid bare the frantic text message exchange between Sam Altman and Mira Murati during OpenAI's dramatic leadership crisis in November 2023. The messages, reported by Business Insider on May 7, show Altman desperately seeking reinstatement while Murati — who had been named interim CEO — repeatedly warned him that the board was firmly committed to his removal.

The revelations offer the most granular look yet at the chaotic hours that nearly tore apart the world's most valuable AI startup. They paint a picture of an ousted co-founder scrambling behind the scenes, a reluctant intermediary caught between loyalties, and a board that — at least initially — refused to budge.

Key Takeaways from the Unsealed Messages

• Altman was locked out of OpenAI's offices and asked Murati to formally invite him back for a meeting.
• Murati served as a go-between, shuttling between board calls and text conversations with Altman.
• The board was resolute: Murati told Altman plainly, 'They have made up their minds.'
• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was described by Altman as 'very worried' about the situation.
• The exchange spanned roughly 7 hours, starting at 5:43 PM Pacific Time on November 19 and stretching past 2 AM on November 20.
• Altman's tone grew increasingly urgent as the night wore on and prospects dimmed.

Inside the 7-Hour Text Marathon

The text thread began at 5:43 PM PT on November 19, 2023 — just days after OpenAI's board had stunned Silicon Valley by firing Altman on November 17. By that point, Murati had already been installed as interim CEO, and the tech world was in an uproar.

Altman, apparently unable to access OpenAI's San Francisco headquarters, sent Murati a direct request: 'Formally invite me to the office for a meeting.' Murati responded that she was 'about to talk to them,' referring to the remaining board members who had orchestrated Altman's removal.

What followed was a grueling overnight vigil. Around 2 AM on November 20, Altman checked back in, asking for any update on the direction of the conversations. 'Can you give me a rough sense — is it trending good or bad?' he wrote. The answer was not what he wanted to hear.

'They have made up their minds,' Murati told him bluntly. Altman pressed further: 'About firing me? Or something new?' Murati's reply was stark: 'Yes, they want you gone.'

Nadella's Shadow Looms Over the Crisis

One of the most striking details in the unsealed texts is Altman's mention of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Altman told Murati that he had been in parallel communication with Nadella throughout the ordeal and that the Microsoft chief was 'very worried.'

This is significant because Microsoft had invested roughly $13 billion in OpenAI by that point and relied heavily on the startup's technology to power its Copilot suite and Azure OpenAI Service. A prolonged leadership vacuum — or worse, a mass exodus of talent — posed an existential threat to Microsoft's AI strategy.

Nadella's concern proved well-founded. Within hours of the board's initial refusal to reinstate Altman, reports emerged that Microsoft was prepared to offer Altman and key OpenAI employees positions at a new advanced AI research lab within Microsoft. The move was widely seen as a pressure tactic aimed at the board.

The gambit worked. By November 22, just 5 days after his firing, Altman was officially reinstated as CEO with a restructured board that removed the members who had voted him out.

Murati's Uncomfortable Role as Intermediary

The texts also shed new light on the difficult position Mira Murati found herself in during the crisis. As OpenAI's Chief Technology Officer and then interim CEO, she was simultaneously expected to lead the company, maintain the board's confidence, and — as the messages show — field an avalanche of texts from the man she had just replaced.

Murati's responses suggest she tried to be honest with Altman without overtly undermining the board. She relayed their position accurately, warned him not to be overly optimistic, and yet continued to engage in the conversation rather than shutting it down. Industry observers have noted that this balancing act may have ultimately contributed to her own departure from OpenAI.

In September 2024, Murati announced she was leaving OpenAI, citing a desire to explore her own ventures. Her exit came roughly 10 months after the crisis and amid growing questions about internal power dynamics at the company. The unsealed texts now provide additional context for what must have been an extraordinarily strained working relationship.

Key figures in the November 2023 crisis:

• Sam Altman — Fired as CEO on November 17, reinstated November 22
• Mira Murati — Named interim CEO, later replaced by Altman, left OpenAI in September 2024
• Emmett Shear — Briefly named as a second interim CEO candidate before Altman's return
• Ilya Sutskever — Board member who initially supported the firing, later expressed regret
• Satya Nadella — Played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in pressuring the board

Why These Texts Matter Now

The messages have surfaced as part of Elon Musk's ongoing lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI, which alleges that the company has abandoned its original nonprofit mission in pursuit of commercial profit. Musk, a co-founder who departed OpenAI's board in 2018, has been seeking to use the November 2023 crisis as evidence of governance failures and self-dealing.

By introducing these texts into the court record, Musk's legal team appears to be arguing that Altman's frantic push for reinstatement — and his simultaneous coordination with Microsoft — demonstrates that personal ambition and corporate interests, rather than the nonprofit's mission, drove decision-making at OpenAI.

OpenAI has consistently disputed Musk's characterization, arguing that its transition toward a capped-profit structure was necessary to raise the capital required to pursue artificial general intelligence (AGI) safely. The company recently announced plans to become a public benefit corporation, a move that has drawn both support and criticism.

The lawsuit is expected to continue through 2025, and legal experts anticipate more internal communications will be unsealed as discovery proceeds.

The Broader Context: AI Industry Governance Under Scrutiny

The OpenAI boardroom drama of November 2023 was a watershed moment for the AI industry. It exposed the fragility of governance structures at companies building some of the most powerful technology in human history. Unlike the leadership crises at traditional tech companies — such as the ousting of Steve Jobs from Apple in 1985 — the OpenAI saga unfolded against the backdrop of genuine concerns about AI safety and the responsible development of frontier models.

Since Altman's reinstatement, OpenAI has undergone significant structural changes:

• A new board was formed, including former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor as chair.
• The company's valuation has soared past $300 billion in recent funding rounds.
• OpenAI launched GPT-4o, Sora, and multiple enterprise products.
• Several senior safety-focused employees have departed, raising concerns among AI ethics advocates.
• The planned conversion to a for-profit entity has drawn regulatory attention from California's Attorney General.

The unsealed Altman-Murati texts add a deeply human dimension to what is often discussed in abstract corporate governance terms. They reveal the raw emotion, the 2 AM anxiety, and the personal stakes that shaped one of the most consequential power struggles in modern tech history.

Looking Ahead: What Comes Next

As the Musk v. Altman case progresses, more internal communications are likely to become public. Legal analysts expect additional depositions and document disclosures through the remainder of 2025, potentially revealing further details about the board's original rationale for firing Altman and the negotiations that led to his return.

For OpenAI, the immediate priority is navigating its corporate restructuring while maintaining its position at the forefront of AI development. The company faces intensifying competition from Google DeepMind, Anthropic, Meta AI, and a growing roster of open-source challengers.

For the broader AI industry, the saga serves as a cautionary tale about the tension between mission-driven governance and the realities of building a multi-hundred-billion-dollar company. How OpenAI resolves that tension — in the courtroom and in the boardroom — will shape the trajectory of artificial intelligence development for years to come.