Sam Altman, the former head of OpenAI, has been hired by Microsoft. Now over 500 OpenAI employees are threatening to follow
There is no end to the chaos surrounding OpenAI. After Sam Altman was fired from OpenAI, there were rumors of his return just one day later. This did not materialize – instead, Twitch co-founder Emmet Shear took over his position.
Now Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has announced via X that Sam Altman and Greg Brockann (co-founder of OpenAI) will be joining a new AI research team at Microsoft.
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
This has set a new ball rolling: over 500 of OpenAI’s 700 or so employees are said to be threatening to leave the company and switch to Microsoft in an open letter.
Current board of directors to resign
In the letter, the OpenAI Management Board is sharply criticized. The staff accuses it of lacking competence, judgment and care for OpenAI’s mission and its employees.
The employees call on the entire board to resign so that a new one can be formed. This could include leading independent members such as Bret Taylor and Will Hurd. They are also calling for the reinstatement of Sam Altman and Greg Brockmann.
Breaking: 505 of 700 employees @OpenAI tell the board to resign. pic.twitter.com/M4D0RX3Q7a
– Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) November 20, 2023
If the demands are not met, the employees want to switch to the new AI research team at Microsoft. The company has probably already promised them enough vacancies
Curiously, the letter was also signed by Ilya Sutskever. He is also a board member and leading scientist at OpenAI and is himself accused of coordinating Altman’s dismissal.
The letter itself does not specify the number of signatures and there are conflicting reports. Many internationally recognized publications, such as (CNN), assume around 500 signatures. Others, such as (Forbes), even speak of 700 – that would be almost the entire workforce of the company.
In the letter itself – at least in the part that is publicly accessible – twelve signatures can be seen. It is therefore possible that more signatures are shown on pages that are not publicly accessible in order to protect the employees’ data.
The situation around OpenAI remains turbulent and the next 24 hours could decide the future of the company. We will continue to keep an eye on the situation surrounding OpenAI and will inform you of any new developments.
