In a dramatic turn of events, just days after being ousted as CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman has joined Microsoft to head up the company’s new artificial intelligence (AI) operation.
While attempts to reinstate Altman at OpenAI came to nothing – despite rumours of unrest among its employees – Microsoft has move quickly to make the appointment, which was confirmed by the company’s CEO, Satya Nadella, on Monday via a statement on X (previously Twitter).
Altman has been joined in the new AI team by Greg Brockman, who is a previous president of OpenAI. They will lead a new advanced AI research team at Microsoft, according to Nadella. He added that the team will look to move quickly and will be provided with the resources they need to do that.
Meanwhile, OpenAI has appointed Emmett Shear – who co-founded Twitch – as its new CEO.
Matters are complicated by the fact that Microsoft is OpenAI’s biggest backer, but Nadella said the company remains committed to it. However, there are also indications that more OpenAI staff could move across to join the new Microsoft team – especially if the rumours of unhappiness among its employees over Altman’s ousting.
This rounds off a whirlwind few days for OpenAI, which started when its board fired Altman – often seen as the face of the AI industry – unexpectedly on Friday for not being “consistently candid in communications”. Microsoft led other OpenAI investors to reinstate Altman – and talks about this did take place at the weekend – but eventually came to nothing.
