Geoff Lewis/Getty Images
- After Sam Altman's ouster, many are wondering why OpenAI board members booted him.
- Bedrock Capital's founder, an OpenAI investor, is more concerned with a board member's background.
- Geoff Lewis said, without offering evidence, he thinks an ex-board member's ties to China should be examined.
While many have been left wondering why OpenAI's board lost confidence in former CEO Sam Altman and briefly booted him from the company earlier this month, an investor is speculating without providing evidence that a former board member's questionable patriotism is the reason behind her vote.
Less than a week after being removed as CEO, Altman is set to return to the position after vocal protests from investors and OpenAI employees called for him to be reinstated.
Geoff Lewis, Bedrock Capital's founder and an investor in OpenAI, appears to be more concerned with the background of Helen Toner, a former OpenAI board member, than the rationale behind her vote of no confidence in Altman.
In a Monday appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box," Lewis, without providing evidence of his claim, wondered if Toner could be a possible "agent of the Chinese Communist Party."
"I think this was a classic human power struggle. Nothing more, nothing less," Lewis told CNBC's Rebecca Quick when she asked what may have led to Altman's ouster.
Instead of debating Toner's reason to oust Altman, Lewis said the "right set of questions" should be aimed at her background.
"This Helen Toner person, you know, seems like a lovely human being," Lewis told CNBC. "You know, was she a CCP agent? I'd like to know the answer to that question."
Toner briefly lived in Beijing as a research affiliate of Oxford University's Center for the Governance of AI while she studied the Chinese AI ecosystem. However, there is no clear indication she has any ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Lewis, however, has taken aim at China on several occasions, arguing in 2019 on Twitter that "China may be quietly taking over US Social media with TikTok" and in a 2022 interview, implying when discussing his investment in a defense contractor, that there is a risk of China destroying the US.
In an essay published in Foreign Affairs earlier this year arguing in support of industry-wide regulations, Toner was openly critical of the development of AI in China, arguing that the country depends "a great deal" on Western innovations and English language models and "does not appear poised to surge ahead" of the US in innovation.
Lewis and Toner, as well as representatives for Bedrock Capital, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Though rumors initially swirled that Altman's ouster was due to the board's concerns about the safe development of AI, Business Insider previously reported on the day of his reinstatement, citing internal OpenAI communications reviewed by The New York Times, that his dismissal had nothing to do with "malfeasance or anything related to our financial, business, safety or security/privacy practice."
Toner, along with Tasha McCauley, the only two female board members of OpenAI, were removed from the board following their votes to vacate Altman from his role as CEO. The pair faced intense social media backlash following Altman's departure. Now that they have been removed, the board will be re-formed to a new, nine-person configuration, Business Insider previously reported.
Negotiations are underway to determine who else will hold seats on the new OpenAI board, CNBC reported, with representatives from Microsoft, a major investor in the company, vying for a seat at the table.