Some people have all the luck when it comes to finding employment.
No sooner than former Open AI CEO Sam Altman was fired from his position at the American artificial intelligence NPO, was he scooped up by the company’s largest investor, Microsoft.
Open AI is the company behind ChatGPT, a popular artificial intelligence bot with over 100 million users worldwide.
Why Sam Altman was fired
The company’s board sacked the 38-year-old after a ‘deliberative process’. The board alleges Altman was “not consistently candid in his communications with them, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities”.
The board further said it no longer had confidence in Altman to lead Open AI. But, hot on the heels of Altman’s sacking came the resignation of three senior AI researchers and ally, Greg Brockman, whom the board had removed as chairman.
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Bloomberg reports that roughly 770 employees signed a letter to the board stating they are “unable to work for or with people that lack competence, judgment and care for our mission and employees”.
The Silicon Valley drama peaked when OpenAI’s biggest investor, Microsoft, poached Altman over the weekend.
New York magazine’s tech publication Intelligencer reports that Altman and Brockman may be open to returning to their posts at OpenAI, but only if the board members who axed him step down.
“My top priority remains to ensure OpenAI continues to thrive. We are committed to fully providing continuity of operations to our partners and customers; the OpenAI/Microsoft partnership makes this very doable,” Altman said in a post on X.
ChatGPT gets its third CEO
Former CEO of Amazon’s streaming service Twitch, Emmett Shear, has been named interim OpenAI CEO. Shear replaces Mira Murati, who was named interim CEO when Altman was fired. She resumes her role as OpenAI’s chief technology officer.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella weighed in on the aftermath of what can only be described as a bedroom coup.
“We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI’s new leadership team and working with them,” said Nadella.
