In ousting CEO Sam Altman, ChatGPT loses its best fundraiser

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testifies before a Senate Judiciary Privacy, Technology & the Law Subcommittee hearing titled 'Oversight of A.I.: Rules for Artificial Intelligence' on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 16, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

(Reuters) - Artificial intelligence may be well-known for generating human-like images out of whole cloth, but if the software has a public face it is Sam Altman’s.

The co-founder of OpenAI, which caused a sensation just a year ago with the introduction of ChatGPT, Altman has presented himself as the benevolent wizard behind the curtain of a technology that many say could upend entire industries and even mankind itself.