Microsoft to hire former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for new AI research team
By CNN
Microsoft has announced plans to hire former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to work on a new advanced artificial intelligence research team, company CEO Satya Nadella announced. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Nadella said they would also hire co-founder Greg Brockman and other OpenAI colleagues.
The move comes after Altman was fired Friday from the AI company he co-founded, though the details of his firing remain unclear. Nadella added in the post that “we remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI” and that Microsoft was looking forward to meeting Emmett Shear, rumored to be the new head of OpenAI.
Microsoft is the largest investor in OpenAI, and Altman will be CEO of the “new group,” Nadella said. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on recent reports that OpenAI had named Shear as interim CEO.
According to Greg Brockman, Altman learned of his dismissal minutes before the company made the news public. Brockman suggested that Altman was fired over a disagreement with the company’s research division, led by co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever.
Contributing to Altman’s ouster was tension between him and OpenAI board members who wanted to act cautiously, as Altman favored pushing AI development more aggressively, according to sources familiar with the crisis. Despite publicly warning of AI risks, he had been pushing the company to bring products to market more quickly and sell them at a profit.
It remains to be seen how Altman’s move to Microsoft will impact the industry.