Just hours after the sudden firing of OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman in November 2023, the company’s board reportedly began discussing a possible merger with its rival, Anthropic. The information came out during a recent court testimony by OpenAI’s former chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever. His statements have once again drawn attention to the dramatic leadership crisis that nearly changed the future of artificial intelligence research.
A Surprising Proposal
According to Sutskever’s deposition, the idea of joining forces with Anthropic surfaced almost immediately after Altman’s removal. On November 18, 2023—barely a day after the firing—board member Helen Toner either reached out to or received a proposal from Anthropic. The plan reportedly suggested a full merger where Anthropic’s leadership, including CEO Dario Amodei and President Daniela Amodei, would take charge of the combined company.
Sutskever made it clear in his statement that he was completely against the move. He said he was “very unhappy” with the proposal and “really did not want OpenAI to merge with Anthropic.” Other board members, however, were more open to the idea, with Toner seen as the most supportive voice in favor of the potential deal.
These discussions, now known as the OpenAI Anthropic merger talks November 2023, could have created one of the most powerful alliances in the AI world—if they had gone through. But soon, the talks collapsed due to what Sutskever described as “practical obstacles” raised by Anthropic.
A Week of Chaos
The merger discussions took place at a time of intense turmoil inside OpenAI. The board had fired Sam Altman, claiming it had lost confidence in his leadership. That decision caused confusion among employees, investors, and the public. Within days, nearly the entire workforce of OpenAI—over 700 employees—signed a letter threatening to resign unless Altman was brought back.
The backlash was so strong that the board had little choice but to act. Under pressure from staff, investors, and partner Microsoft, Sam Altman was reinstated as CEO on November 22, just five days after his dismissal.
This crisis revealed deep divisions inside the company’s leadership about how OpenAI should be run and what its long-term mission should be. Ironically, Anthropic—the company that almost merged with OpenAI—was founded in 2021 by a group of former OpenAI researchers, including the Amodei siblings, who had left over disagreements about AI safety and direction.
Legal Disputes and Public Feuds
The latest revelations about the OpenAI Anthropic merger talks November 2023 came to light through a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk. He accuses OpenAI of drifting away from its original nonprofit mission and turning into a profit-driven corporation.
During his testimony, Sutskever mentioned that he had written a 52-page memo outlining what he saw as a pattern of “dishonesty and manipulation” by Altman. That document, along with the new details about the attempted merger, has sparked another round of tension between Musk and Altman, who exchanged sharp comments on the social platform X.
Today, OpenAI is valued at over $500 billion following a recent secondary share sale and operates as a public benefit corporation. Sutskever, meanwhile, left the company in 2024 to start his own AI firm called Safe Superintelligence, which quickly gained investor interest despite having no revenue yet.
What It Means for the AI Industry
The entire episode shows how unstable the leadership structure of fast-growing AI labs can become. The idea that two leading organizations—OpenAI and Anthropic—nearly merged overnight during a leadership crisis highlights the pressure and competition shaping this field.
If the merger had gone through, it could have united two very different philosophies: OpenAI’s drive for rapid innovation and Anthropic’s cautious focus on AI safety. Instead, the incident exposed the tension between profit, ethics, and transparency that continues to define the AI landscape today.
For the industry, this serves as a reminder that even the most advanced technology companies can face governance issues, power struggles, and human disagreements at their core. While the OpenAI Anthropic merger talks November 2023 may have ended quickly, their impact continues to shape public discussions about how artificial intelligence should be developed and controlled.
Final Thoughts
The near-merger between OpenAI and Anthropic wasn’t just another corporate headline—it was a moment that revealed how fragile even the biggest names in AI can be when leadership trust breaks down. In just a few days, OpenAI went from firing its CEO to facing mass resignations and considering a complete merger with its competitor.
Though the talks failed, they left behind a critical lesson for the tech world: leadership decisions in the age of artificial intelligence have the power to reshape not only companies but the future of technology itself.
