In the most unexpected turn of the year, OpenAI announced Sam Altman’s return as CEO, following his surprising dismissal on Friday. Within five days, the tech sector underwent a complete upheaval.
Over the weekend, it seemed like Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman would end up at Microsoft, leading a new AI research lab.
However, after several days of negotiations, the situation has shifted, and OpenAI has appointed a new board of directors, reinstating Sam Altman as the CEO of the company.
Following a chaotic weekend where hundreds of OpenAI employees threatened to leave the company and join Microsoft, it appears that things are settling down.
Microsoft’s first internal communication regarding this issue
Kevin Scott, Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Artificial Intelligence, has addressed the company’s employees regarding the turmoil at OpenAI.
This marks the first communication from the company to Microsoft employees about the situation, beyond CEO Satya Nadella’s announcement on Sunday regarding Altman’s non-hiring and the initial reaction to the news on Friday.
The Verge has obtained the memorandum, published on Microsoft’s internal employee forum. Here is the complete text:
“As you’ve likely seen, OpenAI has appointed a new board of directors. Sam Altman and Greg Brockman have agreed to return to OpenAI, with Sam as CEO. The events of the past few days have been uncertain for our OpenAI colleagues and of intense interest to many others. Throughout, nothing has changed or wavered about our determination and focus on delivering the world’s best AI technology platforms and products to our customers and partners. We will continue to support our OpenAI colleagues and the phenomenal work they have been doing alongside us in service of that mission. As we have over the past four years, we look forward to continuing our work with Sam and his team.”
Shortly after Scott’s note, Satya Nadella also took to Twitter to share some Thanksgiving words and praise OpenAI and Microsoft employees.
In a post on Microsoft’s internal forum, Nadella expanded his message, emphasizing that AI is “just a tool” and “a means, not an end.”
Here is Nadella’s complete internal message:
“This week, many of us will pause to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, and I want to take a moment to thank each of you for your hard work and contributions to our company. The pace of innovation you have driven has been remarkable, especially in a time of so much ongoing difficulty and uncertainty in the world. But technology, including AI, is just a tool. It’s a means, not an end. And ultimately, our end is our mission to empower people and organizations around the planet: one individual, one community, one country at a time.”
Nadella’s appearances on Bloomberg TV and CNBC on Monday made it clear that Microsoft was happy to have Altman and Brockman return to OpenAI. Was there really room for two AI leaders within Microsoft? I suppose we’ll never know now.
