This weekend chaos broke out in OpenAIdevelopment company ChatGPT. The last friday, The board of directors announced the dismissal of Sam Altman, co-founder and until then CEO of the company. Just two days later, while the world tech I was still absorbing the news, Microsoft revealed that the former CEO will join their ranks as leader of the internal Artificial Intelligence team.
Its co-founder, Greg Brockman, resigned last week after the former was fired. The businessman, who was also president and member of the board of directors of OpenAI, He will go with Altman to Microsoft “to provide them with the necessary resources for their success,” as confirmed Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoftin a post on LinkedIn.
It should be noted that Microsoft has invested $13 billion in the startup and the use of its technology. This makes it the largest shareholder of OpenAI, with an approximate stake of 49%, as they explain. from The financial.
How and why was Sam Altman fired from OpenAI?
In reality, none of those directly involved have clarified in detail how this mess broke out, but there are some clues.
The board accused Sam Altman of not being “consistently truthful in his communications” in a publication cited by BBC. They also allege that, as a result, they have “lost confidence” in their leadership.
There were only six people on the OpenAI board of directors: Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and four other figures very close to both co-founders. Apparently, it would have been the latter who decided to remove the CEO and the president “taking the entire technology community by surprise, including -supposedly- their own investors,” the publication explains.
For its part, the board appointed Emmett Shear, former head of Twitch, as new interim CEO of OpenAI. The now CEO published on X (formerly Twitter) that “the board did not remove Sam because of a specific disagreement over safety” and announced that “there will be an investigation into what happened.”
Furthermore, in a widely circulated internal memo, the board made clear that did not accuse Altman of “financial embezzlement”.
From co-founder and CEO of OpenaAI, to artificial intelligence leader at Microsoft
Recently, the businessman claimed to be developing much more advanced technology than his famous ChatGPT or the controversial worldcoin, without giving more details. But perhaps Microsoft, owning almost half of OpenAI, does know what Sam Altman is talking about and does not want to let those promising ideas escape.
On Sunday, November 19, around midnight, Nadella confirmed on X that The head of ChatGPT will be the leader of a new internal Artificial Intelligence team. He also assured that he “looks forward to meeting (Emmett) Shear and working with him.”
“We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and are confident in our product roadmap, our ability to continue innovating with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and continuing to support our customers and partners,” Nadella said on LinkedIn.
It is unclear how the relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI will continue now that Altman leaves his own company to go as an employee to the company that owns 49% of it.
Several analysts predict that many startup workers will follow in the co-founders’ footsteps and join Microsoft. It is said that the firm founded by Bill Gates would be willing to match the salary of any OpenAI employee who wants to leave the company. Meanwhile, many staff members share the phrase on social media: “OpenAI is nothing without its people”.
Nadella offered LinkedIn and GitHub as examples of Microsoft-owned companies that operate with “independent identities and cultures,” and with their own CEO. What does this actually mean for the startup? There will surely be a clearer picture soon.
Editorial Team The editorial team of EMPRENDEDOR.com, which for more than 27 years has worked to promote entrepreneurship.