Sam Altman, recently fired CEO of ChatGPT creator OpenAI, will now lead a new team at tech giants, Microsoft, focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI).
In an announcement on Monday, Microsoft CEO and Chairman Satya Nadella disclosed that Altman, fellow OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and other former OpenAI employees will oversee what he described as a “new advanced AI research team” at the company.
Nadella, on a post on social media platform, X, said Microsoft looked forward to working with OpenAI’s new leadership team, including interim CEO Emmett Shear, and remained committed to its partnership with the AI startup, which a reported $13bn investment.
“We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success,” Nadella said on X.
In the wake of reports on Sunday that Altman would not return to OpenAI despite executives’ efforts to bring him back, OpenAI co-founder and board director, Ilya Sutskever told staff that Altman would not be coming back after a weekend of negotiations with the board of directors, company leaders and investors.
Some IT/Tech platforms suggest that the news hit Altman in reference to some of his posts on X. He has been among the most sought-after voices on the potential benefits and dangers of AI since last year’s release of ChatGPT, speaking at business summits and testifying before the US Congress.
Meanwhile employees at OpenAI have threatened to quit and join Microsoft if their demands, which include the recall of Altman, and the resignation if the company’s board members were not met.
Included among the signees was company board member Ilya Sutskever as well as Mira Murati, who briefly served as interim CEO after the departure of Altman.
The letter, addressed to OpenAI board members, says: “Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAI.””We, the undersigned, may choose to resign from OpenAI and join the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary run by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman,” the OpenAI employee letter said.
“Microsoft has assured us that there are positions for all OpenAI employees at this new subsidiary should we choose to join. We will take this step imminently, unless all current board members resign, and the board appoints two new lead independent directors.
“Greg Brockman, the former president of OpenAI who resigned from the company soon after the departure of Altman, will also join the newly created AI team at Microsoft. In a post on X, Brockman announced the leadership of the new AI department at Microsoft, which appeared to include several recent employees at OpenAI. “We are going to build something new & it will be incredible,” Brockman said.
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