The soap opera that had Silicon Valley in suspense has been resolved in just one weekend. Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, was fired by surprise last Friday. On Saturday, several OpenAI heavyweights left the company in response to Altman’s sudden dismissal. There was speculation on Sunday that the OpenAI board was considering reinstating him after coming under pressure. Today, Monday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirmed that Altman, 38, is joining the technology giant (which, in turn, participates in OpenAI), where he will lead a “new advanced artificial intelligence research team.” .
“Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, along with other colleagues, will join Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We hope to act quickly to provide them with the resources necessary for their success,” Nadella posted on X this Monday morning. Brockman was the president of OpenAI until, when Altman’s dismissal became public, he resigned from the position in solidarity. “Based on today’s news, I am resigning,” he tweeted Friday night.
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. We look forward to getting to know Emmett…
— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023
Over the last year, Altman has been the visible face of the generative artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, which makes intelligent chatbots like ChatGPT possible. According to several American media outlets in the last 48 hours, the decision of the OpenAI board to dismiss Altman would have been led by a group of executives in favor of containing the potential of AI so that in the future it cannot pose a threat to The humanity.
“Simply put, Sam’s behavior and lack of transparency in his interactions with the board undermined the board’s ability to effectively oversee the company in the manner it was mandated to do,” says an internal OpenAI board memo. to which has had access The New York Times. This is how they officially explain the “loss of confidence” in the until then CEO of the startup.
i loved my time at openai. it was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. most of all I loved working with such talented people.
will have more to say about what’s next later.
🫡
—Sam Altman (@sama) November 17, 2023
Nadella wants Altman to work independently within Microsoft, in an innovation laboratory linked to the company but with fewer ties to its structure. The election of Altman as head of this unit contrasts with the cautions of the OpenAI board that led to the young executive being fired. The move is interpreted as a message: Nadella wants Altman to work on AI without constraints, not to be limited by the precautions that the OpenAI board now wants to take in the development of its technology.
The one chosen to take the reins of OpenAI is Emmett Shear, former CEO of Twitch, despite the fact that the board placed Mira Murati, director of OpenAI for many years, on the same Friday, as the company’s interim head after Altman’s dismissal. .
Rebellion at OpenAI
Hours after learning of Altman’s signing by Microsoft, a group of about 500 OpenAI employees (out of a total of 700) sent a letter to the board threatening to leave the company and sign for Microsoft if it did not get Altman back. and Brockman and put them back in charge of operations. “The process through which [la junta] fired Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman (…) has undermined our mission and our company. (…) We, the undersigned, can choose to resign from OpenAI and join the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary led by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. Microsoft has assured us that there are positions for all OpenAI employees in this new subsidiary if we decide to join. “We will take this step imminently, unless all current board members resign, and the board appoints two new lead independent directors, including Bret Taylor and Will Hurd, and reinstates Sam Altman and Greg Brockman,” the letter reads. which has had access Wired.
Among the signatories of that statement is Ilya Sutskever, the company’s chief technology officer, who had been accused of instigating Altman’s dismissal. “I deeply regret having participated in the board’s decisions. “I never wanted to hurt OpenAI,” he tweeted shortly after the letter was released.
I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we’ve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company.
— Ilya Sutskever (@ilyasut) November 20, 2023
The launch of ChatGPT on November 30, 2022 suddenly put OpenAI, a until then relatively unknown company, on the map. It was known that she had Elon Musk and companies like Microsoft among her investors. The tremendous success of the chatbot, however, led to a race among large technology companies to try to lead the development of this variant of AI.
Microsoft moved quickly and announced in January 2023 the investment of $10 billion in OpenAI to strengthen its alliance with the young company, of which it was already a partner, and boost its AI business. The signing of Altman and Brockman, the top managers of the startup, marks the culmination of this cold absorption of OpenAI.
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