Sam Altman joins Microsoft after rejecting offer to be rehired at OpenAI
Sam Altman
Former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has nowjoined Microsoft along withformer President Greg Brockman, the tech giant announced on Monday (Nov 20) after a few days of topsy-turvy developments that shocked the business world. This comes days after Altman was fired from OpenAI.
Earlier, Altman andBrockman joined executives at the Open AI's San Francisco headquarters on Sunday (Nov 19) after being invited by interim CEO Mira Murati, according to a report by The Information.
The report, citing board director Ilya Sutskever's statement to the company's staff said that ex-Twitch boss Emmett Shear will become the new interim CEO.
Murati had plans to re-hire her ousted predecessor, reported Bloomberg citing people with direct knowledge of the matter.
Sam Altman at OpenAI HQ
The former chief of the leading artificial intelligence firm posted an image of himself at the company’s HQ holding a guest ID pass with the caption, “First and last time i ever wear one of these.”
The Information, citingSutskever's statement said thatAltman will not return to the company as CEO despite efforts from the company's executives to bring him back.
OpenAI hires ex-Twitch chief as new interim CEO
Shear confirmed his appointment as OpenAI's new CEO on Monday (Nov 20).This comes after thetech news websitereported thatShear, who co-foundedTwitch had stepped down from the Amazon-ownedlive video streaming platform earlier this year, and will be thenew interim CEO.
"Today I got a call inviting me to consider a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to become the interim CEO of @OpenAI. After consulting with my family and reflecting on it for just a few hours, I accepted," said the ex-Twitch boss, in a post on X.
ALSO READ |ChatGPT maker OpenAI fires CEO Sam Altman; President Greg Brockman quits 'based on today's news'
Altman joins Microsoft
Just after reports emerged on Altman's appearance at OpenAI office, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took to X on Monday (Nov 20) and announced the hiring of Altman and other members of his team.
Altman "will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team," along with Brockman and their colleagues, said Nadella.
Notably, Microsoft recently rebrandedits search engine Bing Chat anAI-powered chatbot to 'Copilot' afterChatGPT, developed by OpenAI wasintegrated.
Altman’s ouster
OpenAI, the company behind the popular generative AI chatbot ChatGPT, released a statement about Altman’s ouster and said he was under a formal review and that he had hidden information from the company board and was fired after the board decided that they had lost confidence in him.
“Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities,” said OpenAI.
It added, “The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”
The statement said the board was “grateful for Sam’s many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI. At the same time, we believe new leadership is necessary as we move forward.”
Altman’s ouster has angered current and former employees amid concerns about how an upcoming $86 billion share sale could be affected by the sudden management upheaval, reported Reuters.
(With inputs from agencies)