No it isn't how you fire someone. What would YC have done had sama chosen to stay at YC? As per pg, they would've kept him.

And what if he had chosen both?

He got an ultimatum: choose to quit one or we’ll choose for you.

If you want to be super pedantic about it, then let’s just say that PG kicked him out, but Sam at least got a say in what he was being kicked out of.

JFC, no you don’t get to choose whatever you want and being denied the choice of your #1 preference is not being “forced” to do anything. Other people exist and have interests too, you know?

If he had chosen both then that is the same as choosing OpenAI. “Both” was not an option on the table.

Being told to commit or leave is not being kicked out. You can choose to commit and stay.