The ousted OpenAI boss Sam Altman and other employees will work for the software giant Microsoft in the future. You will lead a new research team, as Microsoft boss Satya Nadella announced. Altman was fired from his position as CEO of the company he co-founded on Friday.
Microsoft is a large investor in OpenAI and, according to media reports, tried unsuccessfully to arrange Altman’s return to the top position at OpenAI at the weekend, without success.
Now Microsoft will suddenly become a stronger player in the race to develop artificial intelligence. As a major investor, the group not only has continued access to OpenAI’s technology – but now also has some of its inventors in-house.
According to media reports, a dispute over direction at OpenAI led to Altman’s departure. Some leaders, such as technology chief Ilya Sutskever, believed that Altman was bringing artificial intelligence software to market too quickly and with too commercial an approach. They got the majority of the board of directors on their side.
Legend: Only just laid off and now re-employed by a tech company: Sam Altman will lead a new management team at Microsoft in the future. Reuters/ CARLOS BARRIA
OpenAI’s backers, including Microsoft, failed in their attempt to bring Altman back. Instead, the board of directors even removed the interim boss Mira Murati, who was only appointed on Friday, from office and who is said to have sided with Altman in the meantime.
After hours of negotiations over the weekend, another interim boss was presented to the employees, as reported by the industry service “The Information” and the Bloomberg news agency, among others. It is therefore the co-founder and long-time boss of the gaming-focused streaming service Twitch, Emmett Shear.
Altman brought Microsoft on board
OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a non-profit organization with the mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of everyone. However, when it became clear that donations would not raise the necessary billions in investments, a for-profit company was formed with Altman at the helm.
Among other things, he brought Microsoft on board as an investor, thereby securing OpenAI’s access to the necessary computing power. Microsoft entered into a multi-billion dollar pact with the company to bring its technology into the company’s products.