TIMELINE - From CEO Sam Altman's firing to Elon Musk's lawsuit: check out the OpenAI saga

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will return to the ChatGPT-maker's board along with three new directors, the company said on Friday. Below is a timeline of the events in a tumultuous few months for the artificial intelligence company.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman returns to the board with three new directors after a tumultuous period. (AP)

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will return to the ChatGPT-maker's board along with three new directors, the company said on Friday. Below is a timeline of the events in a tumultuous few months for the artificial intelligence company. Date Event Nov. 17, OpenAI board fires CEO Sam Altman and 2023 President Greg Brockman quits. Mira Murati named as interim CEO Nov. 18, Altman's firing was over a "breakdown in 2023 communication between Sam and the board," and not "malfeasance", COO Brad Lightcap says in an internal memo Early investor Khosla Ventures says it wants Altman back at OpenAI, "but will back him in whatever he does next" 

Altman discusses a possible return to the company even as he contemplates a new venture, source says Nov. 20, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the Windows 2023 maker has hired Altman, Brockman and their colleagues to lead a new advanced AI research team OpenAI appoints former Twitch boss Emmett Shear as interim CEO. Shear pledges probe into Altman's exit. Nearly all OpenAI staff threaten to quit and join Altman at Microsoft, demanding board resign and Altman and Brockman are reinstated Some investors in OpenAI explore legal recourse against the board, sources say Nov. 21, OpenAI says Altman will return as CEO with a 2023 new initial board. Brockman will also return Nov. 22, Ahead of Altman's exit, staff wrote a letter 2023 to the board warning of an AI discovery that could threaten humanity, sources say Nov. 29, Altman says Microsoft will take a non-voting, 2023 observer position on OpenAI's board Dec. 8, 2023 Britain's anti-trust regulator considers whether Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI has resulted in the creation of a relevant merger situation.

Microsoft denies it has taken control of the company Dec. 13, Axel Springer partners with OpenAI in a 2023 first-of-its-kind deal that will deliver summaries of the global news publisher's content in response to ChatGPT queries Dec. 27, The New York Times sues OpenAI and 2023 Microsoft, accusing them of using the newspaper's articles without permission to train chatbots Jan. 9, 2024 EU antitrust regulators say Microsoft's financial backing for OpenAI may be subject to the bloc's merger rules Jan. 25, The FTC orders OpenAI, Microsoft, Alphabet 2024 , Amazon and Anthropic to provide information on recent investments and partnerships as it scrutinizes tech deals Feb. 16, OpenAI completes a deal that values it at $80 2024 billion or more, according to media reports Feb. 27, OpenAI asks a federal judge to dismiss parts 2024 of the NYT copyright lawsuit against it, arguing that the newspaper "hacked" ChatGPT and other AI systems to generate misleading evidence Feb. 29. 

The SEC is scrutinizing internal 2024 communications by Altman as part of an investigation into whether the company's investors were misled, WSJ reports March 1, Elon Musk sues OpenAI and Altman, saying they 2024 abandoned the startup's original mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity March 8, Altman will return to the OpenAI board along 2024 with three new directors, the company says (Reporting by Akash Sriram, Arsheeya Bajwa and Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Rosalba O'Brien)