Holy sh*t! OpenAI board explored Anthropic merger hours after Altman firing

Former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever revealed in explosive court testimony that the company's board explored merging with rival Anthropic within 24 hours of firing CEO Sam Altman in November 2023, potentially reshaping the entire AI industry landscape before practical obstacles derailed the discussions.

The stunning revelation emerged from Sutskever's 10-hour deposition in Elon Musk's ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI. According to testimony made public this week, board member Helen Toner either reached out to or was contacted by Anthropic on November 18, 2023 – just one day after Altman's abrupt removal.​

"They reached out with a proposal to be merged with OpenAI and take over its leadership," Sutskever testified, describing calls between board members and Anthropic's leadership team that included CEO Dario Amodei and president Daniela Amodei. The proposal would have placed Anthropic's executives in control of the combined entity, uniting two of the most prominent AI research organizations.​

Sutskever, who opposed the merger, testified he was "very unhappy about it" and "really did not want OpenAI to merge with Anthropic". However, other board members appeared receptive to the radical restructuring, with Toner emerging as the "most supportive" of the proposal. "They were a lot more supportive, yes," Sutskever said, noting that "at the very least, none were unsupportive".​

The merger discussions occurred during OpenAI's most chaotic period, following the board's decision to remove Altman citing a loss of confidence in his leadership. The board consisted of Sutskever, Toner, Tasha McCauley, and Adam D'Angelo when they orchestrated Altman's firing on November 17, 2023.​

The talks proved short-lived as Anthropic raised unspecified "practical obstacles" that prevented the proposal from advancing. Meanwhile, employee backlash intensified rapidly – over 700 of OpenAI's approximately 770 employees signed a letter threatening mass resignations unless the board reversed course. Under intense pressure from staff, investors, and major partner Microsoft, the board reinstated Altman on November 22, just five days after his removal.​

The proposed merger carries particular irony given Anthropic's origins as a 2021 spinoff founded by the Amodei siblings and roughly a dozen other former OpenAI researchers who departed over AI safety concerns. The company has since raised $13 billion in September 2025, nearly tripling its valuation to $183 billion, while positioning itself as a more cautious alternative emphasizing constitutional AI approaches.