Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to Join Microsoft After OpenAI

Co-founders of OpenAI Sam Altman and Greg Brockman will join Microsoft to head up an advanced research lab, Microsoft head Satya Nadella said in posts on X, LinkedIn, and Microsoft's blog, without giving details. ^[1]

Investors and employees, including Microsoft, were reportedly blindsided by the news of Altman’s ouster from OpenAI, a company he co-founded, on Friday. Following his removal, co-founder and chairman Greg Brockman announced his resignation. At least three top researchers at the company followed suit.

In the post, Nadella says that Microsoft remains committed to its partnership with OpenAI and looks forward to getting to know OAI's new leadership team, including interim CEO Emmet Shear.

 

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. We look forward to getting to know Emmett…

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023

Investor appeals to return Altman to OpenAI were rejected by the board, which reiterated its refusal to bring him back to the company, citing his lack of transparency as a hindrance to the board’s ability to effectively do its work, the New York Times reported, citing an internal memo.  ^[2]    

OpenAI has said it will name Altman’s second interim replacement, Emmet Shear, within two days, to replace interim CEO, OpenAI’s CTO Mira Murati. Shear is the former chief executive of video livestreaming service Twitch, which was acquired by Amazon in 2014.