OpenAI investors are working to get rid of the company’s board and reinstate Sam Altman as chief executive of the generative AI start-up, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation, in what would amount to a spectacular counter-coup they are confident could be concluded this weekend. A group of investors including Microsoft and prominent venture capital firms, along with employees at the company, were exploring options to resolve the crisis, according to three people briefed on the discussions.

These options include removing the board of the non-profit that oversees OpenAI and reinstalling Altman, who was pushed out of the ChatGPT parent on Friday, and co-founder Greg Brockman, who quit the company hours later, sending shockwaves through Silicon Valley.

With the board and his backers at an impasse on Saturday night, Altman posted “i love the openai team so much” on X. Within an hour hundreds of current OpenAI employees — including interim CEO Mira Murati and chief operating officer Brad Lightcap — had liked or reposted the tweet, often echoing Altman’s sentiment.