Large number of OpenAI employees have threatened to resign en masse after former CEO Sam Altman joins Microsoft

Large number of OpenAI employees have threatened to resign en masse after former CEO Sam Altman joins Microsoft
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With hundreds of workers signing a letter demanding that the board resign after failing to come to an agreement to reinstate fired CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI‘s future looked uncertain on Monday.

Altman, whose exit from OpenAI was made public on Friday, started working at Microsoft early on Monday after a shocking weekend of drama in the boardroom that rocked Silicon Valley. After rumors surfaced that Altman might make a dramatic comeback to the company he helped turn into one of the hottest startups in the world, the tech giant announced early on Monday that Altman will lead a new artificial intelligence project at Microsoft.

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After a few hours, a letter that was leaked to NBC News and first reported by journalist Kara Swisher and Wired stated that staff members of OpenAI would be leaving and possibly joining Microsoft “unless all current members of the board resign, and the board appoints two fresh lead independent directors, like Bret Taylor and Will Hurd, along with reinstates Sam Altman and Greg Brockman.”

A representative for OpenAI said that the board had seen the letter.

“Your actions have rendered it obvious that you are unable to oversee OpenAI,” the letter continues. “Those who lack competence, good judgment, and concern for our mission and employees are not someone we can work for or with.” The undersigned may decide to leave OpenAI and work for the recently revealed Microsoft division headed by Greg Brockman and Sam Altman.”

More than 700 names were listed on the letter as of late Monday morning, though NBC News has not verified that everyone who wanted to sign it did so. Many of them had written the same posts, “OpenAI is nothing without its people,” on X.

The spokesman estimated that OpenAI employs roughly 770 people at the moment.

Ilya Sutskever, an OpenAI board member and co-founder whose name was also on the letter, wrote to X expressing regret for his part in Altman’s departure.

It seemed like he was hinting that there were plans to bring Altman back.

He wrote, “I will do everything in my power to bring the company back together because I love everything we’ve built together.”

Altman added three hearts to that post quote.

Co-founder and former CEO of Twitch, an online video streaming service, Emmett Shear, announced his appointment to OpenAI’s interim CEO position.

Founded in 2015 with funding from multiple tech billionaires, OpenAI has become the front-runner of a new wave of AI technology, which is typified by the chatbot app ChatGPT. Nearly exactly a year ago, that app shot to fame, showcasing the enormous advancements in AI and making OpenAI the hottest tech startup globally.

Just before three in the morning ET, Microsoft CEO and chairman Satya Nadella revealed the hiring of Altman on X, over 48 hours after the board of directors of OpenAI declared they “no longer had confidence” in Altman, a prominent player in the tech sector’s attempts to address the potential benefits and risks of artificial intelligence.

Since OpenAI’s first funding agreement in 2019, Microsoft has been a significant financial supporter, contributing billions of dollars. Since then, OpenAI has emerged as the most well-known of a new breed of AI startups; its large language model chatbot, ChatGPT, is in widespread use and has come to represent AI innovation in daily life.

In addition to confirming that Altman will supervise a “new advanced AI research team,” Nadella said Microsoft remains committed to supporting OpenAI, which has a new leadership team. Greg Brockman, an OpenAI co-founder who was kicked off the board and resigned as president on Friday, will also lead this team.

“We are looking forward to moving rapidly to provide them with the tools and support needed for their success,” said Nadella.

The post was reshared by Altman, who added, “The mission continues.”

Following a review, OpenAI said it severed its relationship with him because he was “not regularly candid in his communications with the board, hindering its capacity to exercise its responsibilities.”

Although he and Altman were “shocked and saddened” by the board’s decision, Brockman stated in a post to X on Friday that “greater things coming soon.”

According to a Sunday CNBC report, following the appointment of chief technology officer Mira Murati as interim CEO, some OpenAI investors were calling for Altman’s return.

However, Shear announced early on Monday on X that he would be heading up OpenAI in its place.

Among the things he listed as part of his 30-day plan was hiring an outside investigator “to dig into every step leading up to this point as well as generate a full report.”

Shear stated that “OpenAI’s stability and success are too essential to allow turmoil to disrupt them like this,” stating that “I have only the greatest respect for what Sam along with the entire OpenAI team have built.”

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