The four OpenAI board members who fired Sam Altman concluded they could not believe what he was telling them after years of misrepresentation.

“The claim is well-supported by public statements from the board members involved. The board's official statement on November 17, 2023, said Sam Altman was "not consistently candid in his communications" and that they "no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI." In May 2024, former board member Helen Toner elaborated, stating that for years Altman had made it difficult for the board to do its job by "withholding information, misrepresenting things that were happening at the company and in some cases, outright lying to the board." Context: The board that fired Altman consisted of chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo, tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley, and Helen Toner from Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. After Altman was reinstated days later following intense pressure from employees and investors, the board was reconstituted, and McCauley and Toner were removed.”