Just two days after OpenAI's board of directors fired the company's co-founder and chief executive Sam Altman and the resignation of another co-founder Greg Brockman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has announced hiring Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to lead its advanced AI research team. The transfer of major OpenAI people to Microsoft marks a crucial moment in the AI industry as OpenAI changes leadership, whereas the software giant gains experienced AI researchers and executives.
"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," wrote Satya Nadella, chief executive of Microsoft, in an X post. "We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OpenAI's new leadership team and working with them. And we are 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. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success."
Late last week the OpenAI board of directors ousted Sam Altman from the company, citing a lack of confidence as the reason for his firing. This lead to a weekend of intense negotiations about his potential return. However, these discussions fell through, and Microsoft apparently decided to hire two people well known in the AI industry. This move is not solely about the two high-profile hires. It also includes the migration of other key OpenAI talents such as Jakub Pachocki, Szymon Sidor, and Aleksander Madry, signaling a substantial shift of people from OpenAI to Microsoft, reports The Verge. Meanwhile, OpenAI employees are posting similar tweets noting that OpenAI is nothing without its people.
