The story is still unfinished: yesterday, Monday, we thought that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman had joined Microsoft. This was announced by Satya Nadella himself, but it has now been revealed that both of them – and the rest of those who left the company in the wake of recent frenetic events – could end up returning to the company.
Where I said I said. Sources close to the company reveal that Altman, Brockman and investors are trying to achieve a graceful exit from the board. Yesterday afternoon (early morning in Spain) Altman indicated in a tweet that “we will work together one way or the other.”
Pressure for the board of directors. The letter that virtually all OpenAI employees signed demands that the management board resign and bring back Altman and Brockman. Even Ilya Sutskever, who reportedly prompted the moves, has apologized and signed the letter.
What about Microsoft. Altman was supposed to end up leading a new AI division at Microsoft, but now it’s all up in the air. Satya Nadella appeared on CNBC and Bloomberg TV yesterday afternoon in the US, and when asked about those hires stated that “it will be the OpenAI board, its managers and its employees who will choose.”
"I'm committed to OpenAI and Sam…"
Microsoft CEO @SatyaNadella talks everything AI with @JonFortt: pic.twitter.com/a7M3yAs96x
— CNBC's Fast Money (@CNBCFastMoney) November 20, 2023
Nadella is calm. It doesn’t appear that the change of helm has bothered Microsoft’s CEO, who added in those interviews that Microsoft “chose to explicitly partner with OpenAI [and] obviously that depends on whether the OpenAI people stay there or come to Microsoft, so I’m open to both options.”
Uncertain signing. The situation therefore is once again confusing. According to multiple sources Altman is not currently listed in Microsoft’s corporate directory, which seems to show that he is still not currently employed by the Redmond firm.
The interim CEO is silent. Emmett Shear, who yesterday published a long post on X explaining his plan of action after his sudden appointment, has not spoken out again and it is also unclear whether that appointment could also be cancelled in view of these new developments. The Information indicates that he is currently engaged in negotiations with Altman, so it is likely that we will hear from the company soon.