Kicked out by OpenAI, Sam Altman joins Microsoft family

OpenAI founder Sam Altman and former president Greg Brockman will join Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team at Microsoft, a week after being fired from OpenAI.

The news came straight out of the horse’s mouth as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote on X. We bet AI couldn’t predict this news!

“We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners,” Nadella said.

“We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI’s new leadership team and working with them. And we’re extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success,” he added.

In an alleged coup, OpenAI’s board, led by co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, announced the removal of Altman over the weekend. This move was so sudden that even Microsoft, which is a key OpenAI investor was caught off guard.

After ousting Altman, several OpenAI employees, including co-founder Brockman, resigned from the AI research lab in protest over the weekend.

Even though Microsoft tried to reinstate Altman in OpenAI, of which it owns almost half, the board refused to be swayed.

This is one of the most significant events in the AI industry. Sam Altman joining Microsoft as the head of artificial intelligence research can be monumental for the brand and its global user base. Altman’s leadership in the AI domain needs no introduction, which can help Microsoft in multiple ways.

Notably, Altman will lead a new advanced AI research team to develop new solutions and AI-enabled tools for Microsoft’s varied products for B2C and B2B market.