Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took to the company’s platform, X, to announce the hiring of former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and president Greg Brockman for a new advanced AI research team. In his Nov. 20 post, Nadella expressed his excitement about the new additions and affirmed Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to its partnership with OpenAI. The announcement coincided with the appointment of Emmett Shear as the new CEO of OpenAI, succeeding Altman.
Altman, who was removed from his position at OpenAI by the board of directors on Nov. 17 for alleged communication issues, responded to Nadella’s announcement with a retweet, stating, “the mission continues.” This suggests that Altman remains dedicated to advancing AI, now under Microsoft’s banner.
Greg Brockman, who resigned from the OpenAI board following Altman’s departure, shared his feelings of being “shocked and saddened” by the events on social media. Although the official announcement from OpenAI framed his departure as stepping down, Brockman clarified in his post that he was informed he was “being removed.”
During the interim period at OpenAI, Mira Murati, the former chief technology officer, assumed the role of interim CEO for three days following Altman’s exit. Murati had joined OpenAI in 2018 when it still operated as a nonprofit research center.
In the wake of these changes, Emmett Shear, the former CEO and co-founder of the video streaming platform Twitch, was named the interim CEO of OpenAI on Nov. 20. The developments mark a significant shift in leadership for both Microsoft’s advanced AI research team and OpenAI, signaling a new chapter in the companies’ collaborative efforts in the field of artificial intelligence.
