Reportedly, OpenAI researchers alerted the board to an AI discovery before to the CEO's dismissal.

Two individuals familiar with the situation told Reuters that a number of staff researchers warned the board of directors about a potentially dangerous artificial intelligence breakthrough in a letter they prepared before OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s four-day banishment.

The two sources claimed that before Altman, the poster girl baby of generative AI, was fired by the board, the previously undisclosed letter and the AI algorithm were significant advancements. More than 700 workers had threatened to resign in support of their ousted boss, Microsoft (MSFT.O), before his victorious comeback late on Tuesday.

The sources identified the letter as one element in a wider list of board complaints that resulted in Altman’s termination, including worries about commercializing advancements before fully realizing the ramifications. No duplicate of the letter in question was available for Reuters to examine. Requests for response from the staff member who penned the letter were not answered.

One of the persons claimed that OpenAI, which did not want to comment when approached by Reuters, disclosed a project named Q* in an internal memo to employees and in a board letter prior to the events of the weekend. A representative for OpenAI stated that the communication, which was written by seasoned executive Mira Murati, informed employees of specific media reports without addressing their veracity.

According to someone who spoke with Reuters, some at OpenAI think Q*—pronounced Q-Star—might represent a significant advancement in the company’s quest for artificial general intelligence (AGI). AGI is defined by OpenAI as autonomous machines that outperform humans in the majority of economically significant tasks.

The person, who spoke under anonymity because they were not authorized to talk on behalf of the corporation, claimed that the recently released model was able to solve some mathematical issues given its enormous computational capacity. The source stated that despite Q*’s rudimentary math skills, the fact that it aced these exams gave researchers great hope for Q*’s future prospects.