Former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and president Greg Brockman will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team, Satya Nadella said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on November 20 in a fresh turn of events.
"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 in the post.
Nadella in the post added that Altman will be the CEO of the new advanced AI research team.
"I’m super excited to have you join as CEO of this new group, Sam, setting a new pace for innovation. 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," Nadella said.
Over the weekend, the tech industry was taken aback as OpenAI's board, led by co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, announced the removal of Altman in what is being termed an alleged coup. Altman, who co-founded the company in 2015, was ousted in a surprising move that caught even key OpenAI investor Microsoft off guard.
Several OpenAI employees, including co-founder Brockman, resigned from the AI research lab in protest over the weekend. Nadella said that Altman and Brockman will be accompanied by "colleagues," implying that Microsoft is also hiring OpenAI employees who resigned over the weekend.
OpenAI announced on November 18 Altman's exit in a blog post stating that he had been inconsistent with his communications with the board. "The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI," the blog post read.
Nadella's post also confirmed former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear's appointment as the new OpenAI CEO, saying that they are "looking forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OpenAI's new leadership team and working with them."
Shear will take over as CEO from Mira Murati, who was publicly aligned with Altman.
Altman shot to the fame with the launch of ChatGPT, a bot that revolutionised the world of AI. His ouster as CEO from the company triggered a massive uproar in the tech industry.
Nadella's announcement follows Microsoft's recent revelation that the company has developed an AI chip capable of training large language models. This move is seen as a strategic effort to reduce dependence on Nvidia and potentially save costs.
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