Sam Altman Joins Microsoft After OpenAI Ousting

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Facts

  • Just three days after being ousted as CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman is joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced artificial intelligence (AI) research team. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced on X that Altman and other OpenAI employees are joining the company.1
  • The OpenAI board fired its co-founder and CEO on Friday in a dramatic turn of events that also saw President and Chairman Greg Brockman removed from his position. The ChatGPT maker claims that Altman’s lack of candid communication with the board had been affecting its performance.2
  • After the chaotic boardroom restructuring, OpenAI named its third CEO in as many days, hiring Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Amazon’s Twitch, as interim CEO. Mira Murati served as interim CEO in the days after Almtan’s ousting, and she will return to her role as OpenAI’s chief technology officer.3
  • Shear said he would hire an independent investigator to look into Altman's firing and generate a report within 30 days. He added that Altman's departure was not related to a 'specific disagreement on safety.'4
  • Microsoft was quick to hire Altman and other OpenAI employees in order to stabilize the tech startup and keep key talent away from rivals Amazon and Google. Microsoft has invested billions in OpenAI, and some speculated Altman would return as OpenAI CEO before he joined Microsoft.5
  • Altman will reportedly have the CEO title of his new group, a position usually reserved for separate businesses within the software giants, such as Xbox. Nadella said that Microsoft remained “committed to [its] partnership with OpenAI” and that he will work closely with Shear.6

Sources: 1CNBC, 2Verity, 3CNN, 4Associated Press, 5The christian science monitor and 6Verge.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Wired. The past 72 hours have been a whirlwind in the artificial intelligence space, but one thing is abundantly clear amid the chaos — Microsoft is the winner of the fallout between Sam Altman and OpenAI. In addition to hiring one of the most prominent names in the AI field, Microsoft has also brought many of his colleagues and stocked up in the AI arms race against Google and Amazon. Microsoft will still work to get returns on its massive investment in OpenAI, but the company just gained an enormous amount of human capital. Microsoft headquarters is celebrating on Monday.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Slate. Everything about the Sam Altman/OpenAI saga seems off, and there is so much unclarity that it is impossible to make any declarations about the parties involved. While Microsoft appears like it scored a major victory, it still needs to make sure that OpenAI can remain successful — and there is very little information about Altman’s new endeavor with the company. The past three days are full of confusion, and there's a lot to untangle before any winners are declared.

Predictions