A key figure in the advancement of artificial intelligence, Sam Altman joined Microsoft shortly after his departure as CEO of OpenAI. This move prompted almost 600 OpenAI employees to sign a letter urging the resignation of the company’s board and the reinstatement of Altman. The employees threatened to leave for Microsoft unless their demands were met, with notable signatories including board member Ilya Sutskever and interim CEO Mira Murati.
The letter, directed to OpenAI’s board, criticized their competence, stating, “Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAI.” The employees expressed their intention to resign and join the new Microsoft subsidiary led by Altman and Greg Brockman, with assurances from Microsoft regarding positions for all OpenAI staff.
Greg Brockman, the former president of OpenAI, also joined Microsoft’s newly formed AI team. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella expressed anticipation in providing resources for their success. Altman, in a repost of Nadella’s announcement, affirmed that “The mission continues.”
We are going to build something new & it will be incredible.
— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 20, 2023
Initial leadership (more soon): @merettm @sidorszymon @aleks_madry @sama @gdb
The mission continues. https://t.co/oAerJnMYQm
Brockman, in a separate post, unveiled the leadership of Microsoft’s new AI department, which appeared to include recent hires from OpenAI. He expressed excitement about building something new.
Meanwhile, OpenAI appointed former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear as its interim CEO, replacing Mira Murati. This decision followed Murati’s internal appointment to the role just days earlier.
Also read: OpenAI: Emmett Shear new interim CEO replacing Mira Murati
Altman’s departure from OpenAI resulted from a board review, which concluded that he “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board.” A board member involved in Altman’s exit, Ilya Sutskever, expressed regret, stating on Monday, “I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions” and pledging to work towards reuniting the company.
Also read:Sam Altman: Resigns from his Post as CEO of of OpenAI
In January, Microsoft announced a $10 billion investment in OpenAI, deepening their longstanding relationship that began with a $1 billion investment four years prior. Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, integrates ChatGPT, OpenAI’s popular conversation bot.
OpenAI gained prominence with the public release of ChatGPT a year ago, boasting over 100 million weekly users. Altman cautioned about the potential impact, saying, “We’ve got to be careful here. I think people should be happy that we are a little bit scared of this.”
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