Former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joins Microsoft

Microsoft has announced the hiring of former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman to lead its new advanced AI research team. The move comes just days after Altman was fired from OpenAI after the board said it “no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”

Key Points:

• Former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman were hired by Microsoft to lead its new advanced AI research team.
• Former president Brockman resigned after he was removed as chairman of OpenAI’s board.
• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has expressed excitement about the addition of Altman and Brockman to the company’s AI team.
• Altman has acknowledged his move to Microsoft in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Who said what?

The announcement was made by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who expressed excitement about the addition of Altman and Brockman to the company’s AI team. “We’re extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team,” Nadella said. “We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success.”

Altman acknowledged his move to Microsoft in a post on X (formerly Twitter), reposting Nadella’s announcement with the message “the mission continues.”

Nadella responded to Altman’s post by hinting at how he envisions Altman’s role at Microsoft, stating, “We’ve learned a lot over the years about how to give founders and innovators space to build independent identities and cultures within Microsoft, including GitHub, Mojang Studios, and LinkedIn, and I’m looking forward to having you do the same.”

The hiring of Altman and Brockman is a significant development for Microsoft, which is already a leader in the field of artificial intelligence. The addition of these two experienced and respected figures is likely to further strengthen Microsoft’s position in the AI industry.

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Altman’s hiring comes just hours after negotiations with OpenAI’s board failed to bring him back as OpenAI CEO, The Verge reported.  Former Twitch CEO and co-founder Emmett Shear wad named as interim CEO. He will take over from Mira Murati, who was named interim OpenAI CEO following Altman’s shock firing on Friday.

Sources indicate that Altman had been in talks to return as OpenAI CEO, but the company’s four-person board refused to step down and allow his reinstatement.

His recent efforts to attract investors for a separate startup focused on developing custom AI Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) chips, codenamed “Tigris,” are believed to have contributed to the board’s decision.

Microsoft’s recent announcement of its own custom AI chip and Arm-based CPU for cloud workloads further highlights the company’s focus on developing its own hardware for AI applications.

Despite the leadership changes at OpenAI, Microsoft said it remained committed to its partnership with the company and maintains a significant investment of around $10 billion.

“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,” Nadella said in his statement. “We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI’s new leadership team and working with them.”