The soap opera that captivated Silicon Valley was solved in just one weekend. Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, was unexpectedly fired last Friday. On Saturday, several OpenAI heavyweights left the company in response to Altman’s sudden firing. There was speculation on Sunday that the OpenAI board was considering reinstating him after he came under pressure. Today, Monday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirmed that 38-year-old Altman is joining the tech giant (which in turn has a stake in OpenAI), where he will lead a “new advanced artificial intelligence research team.”
“Sam Altman and Greg Brockman will join other colleagues at Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We hope to act quickly to provide them with the resources necessary for their success,” wrote Nadella on X (formerly Twitter) this Monday morning. Brockman was president of OpenAI until he resigned in solidarity when Altman’s firing became public. “Due to today’s news I am resigning,” he tweeted Friday evening.
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 to continue supporting our customers and partners. We look forward to meeting Emmett…
— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023
Over the last year, Altman has been the visible face of the generative artificial intelligence (AI) revolution that enables intelligent chatbots like ChatGPT. According to several American media outlets in the last 48 hours, the OpenAI board’s decision to fire Altman would have been led by a group of executives who advocated curbing the potential of AI so that it can no longer pose a threat to The in the future Humanity.
“Simply put, Sam’s behavior and lack of transparency in his interactions with the board have undermined the board’s ability to effectively oversee the company in the manner in which it was delegated,” said an internal OpenAI memo. Board of Directors to whom The New York Times has access. This is how they officially declare a “loss of trust” in the startup’s previous CEO.
I enjoyed my time at Openai. It changed me personally and hopefully the world a little. What I enjoyed most was working with such talented people.
I’ll have more to say about what comes next later.
🫡
—Sam Altman (@sama) November 17, 2023
Nadella wants Altman to work independently within Microsoft, in an innovation lab that is connected to the company but less tied to its structure. The selection of Altman to head this unit contrasts with the precautionary measures taken by the OpenAI board, which led to the firing of the young manager. The move is being interpreted as a message: Nadella wants Altman to work on AI without restrictions and not be restricted by the precautions that the OpenAI board now wants to take in developing its technology.
The person chosen to take the helm of OpenAI is Emmett Shear, former CEO of Twitch, although the board named Mira Murati, longtime director of OpenAI, as interim head of the company on Friday after Altman’s firing.
Rebellion at OpenAI
Hours after Microsoft learned of Altman’s signing, a group of about 500 OpenAI employees (out of 700 total) sent a letter to the board threatening to leave the company and sign for Microsoft if Altman wasn’t returned. and Brockman and put them back in charge of operations. “The process by which [la junta] Firing Sam Altman and removing Greg Brockman (…) undermined our mission and our company. (…) We, the undersigned, may choose to resign from OpenAI and join the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary led by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. Microsoft has assured us that there are job openings for all OpenAI employees in this new subsidiary should we choose to join. “We will take this step immediately unless all current board members resign and the board appoints two new lead independent directors, including Bret Taylor and Will Hurd, and reinstates Sam Altman and Greg Brockman,” the letter said , which Wired has obtained access to.
Among those who signed the statement was Ilya Sutskever, the company’s technology chief, who was accused of instigating Altman’s firing. “I deeply regret having been involved in the board’s decisions. “I never meant to harm OpenAI,” he tweeted shortly after the letter was published.
I deeply regret that I participated in the board’s actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we’ve built together and I’ll do everything I can to reunite the company.
— Ilya Sutskever (@ilyasut) November 20, 2023
The launch of ChatGPT on November 30, 2022 suddenly put OpenAI, a previously relatively unknown company, on the map. She was known to count Elon Musk and companies like Microsoft among her investors. However, the enormous success of the chatbot led to a race by major technology companies to take the lead in developing this variant of AI.
Microsoft reacted quickly and in January 2023 announced the investment of $10 billion in OpenAI to strengthen its alliance with the young company, of which it was already a partner, and to boost its AI business. The signing of Altman and Brockman, the startup’s top executives, marks the culmination of this cold acquisition of OpenAI.
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