Throwback Pic From 2005 Featuring Emmett Shear And Sam Altman Goes Viral

Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear confirmed his appointment as OpenAI's new CEO on Monday, days after the AI firm fired Sam Altman. Interestingly, the tech leaders have also previously crossed paths. Notably, Mr Altman and Mr Shear were in the inaugural class for Y Combinator, an influential San Francisco startup incubator, in 2005. Mr Altman also served as the president of Y Combinator from 2014 to 2019.

Recently, a Twitter user shared a throwback picture of them, that has gone viral. ''Photo of Emmett Shear (red) and Sam Altman (yellow) from when they were in the original 2005 Y Combinator class together,'' the caption of the photo read.

See the post here:

photo of Emmett Shear (red) and Sam Altman (yellow) from when they were in the original 2005 Y Combinator class together. pic.twitter.com/x2lI64e6sU

— John Coogan (@johncoogan) November 20, 2023

Eagle-eyed users also spotted other prominent tech leaders in the picture including Alexis Ohanian, who is the co-founder of Reddit and is married to Serena Williams. Aaron Swartz, an Internet pioneer and an activist, who died in 2013 at the age of 26 was also present in the picture.

Internet users were left intrigued to see so much talent in one picture. One user wrote, ''This has to be one of the most GOATed classes of all time. Legend.'' Another said, ''Legendary photo.'' A third paid tribute to Mr Swartz and wrote, ''RIP Aaron. the greatest internet boy ever.'' A fourth added, ''This squad would make you wonder what you are doing with your life.''

A fifth said, ''This has to be the most powerful classes of YC.''

Mr Shear, 40, stepped down as CEO of Amazon. com-owned Twitch this March after more than 16 years at the live video streaming platform, according to Reuters.

After his appointment as OpenAI's new interim CEO, Mr. Shear vowed to hire an independent investigator to probe the abrupt ouster of co-founder Sam Altman and reform the management team over the next 30 days as he seeks to restore trust in the US start-up after a dramatic weekend.

Meanwhile, Sam Altman is set to lead a new AI research team at Microsoft, as announced by Microsoft chief Satya Nadella.