Sam Altman took a job at Microsoft, talks to return to OpenAI unsuccessful
Ian C. Bates/The New York Times
Former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, former OpenAI CEO Greg Brockman, and a number of their colleagues will lead a new artificial intelligence research unit at Microsoft.
Here's What We Know
According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, the corporation will continue to work with the new OpenAI team. What exactly Altman and Brockman will do in the new department, he did not say.
We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett....
- Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023
Altman's firing and then Brockman's departure came as a shock to the tech industry. According to media reports, other employees of OpenAI were planning to leave after them. Moreover, the company's main investor, Microsoft, allegedly learnt about Altman's dismissal from the media, which infuriated the tech giant's management.
The potential outflow of staff worried OpenAI's board of directors and they considered the possibility of Altman's return. He allegedly agreed, but on the condition that the board disbanded.
According to sources close to Altman, the company was ready to take such a step, but failed to resolve all issues within the deadline. On Sunday evening, Ilya Sutskever, head of the board and chief scientist at OpenAI, informed employees that Altman would not be returning. The board also appointed former Twitch boss Emmett Shear as the company's new interim CEO. Meanwhile, the fate of Mira Murati, who was named as Altman's successor on Thursday, is unknown. She is likely to remain in her position as OpenAI's CTO.
Following the news of Altman joining Microsoft, shares of the tech giant rose 2% on the premarket.
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Source: @satyanadella, The Verge, Reuters
