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UPDATE: Sam Altman to join Microsoft after OpenAI exit

Altman’s sacking angered current and former employees and worried them over an upcoming $86bn share sale

by Reuters

November 20, 2023

Image credit: Bloomberg

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Monday said that ousted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Greg Brockman will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team.

Nadella also appeared to confirm Emmett Shear’s reported appointment as the new OpenAI CEO, saying they are “looking forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and working with them.”

Reuters had previously reported that Altman will not return as the CEO of OpenAI and ex-Twitch boss Emmett Shear will become the new interim CEO, based on a report by The Information published on Sunday, citing board director Ilya Sutskever’s statement to the company’s staff.

Shear co-founded Twitch and had stepped down from the Amazon.com Inc-owned live video streaming platform earlier this year.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The former CEO will not return to the company despite efforts from the company’s executives to bring him back, the report said, citing Sutskever. The report did not give any other details.

Sam Altman as the face of OpenAI

Altman and former OpenAI President Greg Brockman joined executives at the company’s San Francisco headquarters on Sunday after interim CEO Mira Murati told staff she invited Altman, The Information earlier reported on Sunday.

He discussed a possible return to the company behind the ChatGPT bot and improving the company’s governance structure, Reuters reported on Sunday.

The board of the company on Friday fired Altman, who to many was the human face of generative AI, sending shock waves across the tech industry.

Altman posted on Sunday on messaging platform X an image of himself wearing an OpenAI guest badge with the caption: “first and last time i ever wear one of these.”

first and last time i ever wear one of these pic.twitter.com/u3iKwyWj0a

— Sam Altman (@sama) November 19, 2023

Altman’s sacking angered current and former employees and worried them over an upcoming $86bn share sale and how it could be affected by the sudden management upheaval.