Satya Nadella has thrown his weight behind Sam Altman a day after the co-founder was abruptly removed from the leadership of the AI company he co-founded. In a blog post, the Microsoft CEO said that Altman and former president Greg Brockman are joining the company to lead a new team for advanced research in Artificial Intelligence.
The news comes days after Altman’s firing by the board of OpenAI, which he owns a significant stake in. The move sparked a furious reaction from investors, partners, and employees, who were stunned by the decision. Many feared that it would damage the companies’ relationship with Microsoft, which has invested $13 billion in the company. The board reportedly worked to reinstate Altman as CEO over the weekend, but those talks appear to have ended.
In his blog post, Nadella described Altman and Brockman’s arrival at the company as “another step in our long-term partnership with OpenAI.” He added that he had spoken to the founders personally and assured them he would do everything possible to support them and their mission.
How the two will be split up in their new roles needs to be clarified, and what they will work on needs to be clarified. However, Microsoft will have a powerful asset with the pair. The company has been pursuing AI projects and building its autonomous vehicle technology, and it could benefit from Altman’s expertise in those areas.
According to reports, Altman and Brockman were fired for a “breakdown in communications” with the board and a lack of trust. But they deny any wrongdoing. Altman has also made large bets on other projects, including Helion Energy’s fusion reactors that aim to produce clean, cheap energy from seawater and Retro Biosciences’ efforts to extend the human lifespan by scanning people’s eyes for genetic markers.
Brockman, who was also fired along with Altman, wrote a separate blog post describing how OpenAI chief scientific officer Ilya Sutskever notified him of the decision on Thursday evening. He said he was told to attend a meeting the following day and that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss a “leadership change.” He described the meeting as “tense, emotional, and shocking.”
In a follow-up tweet, he clarified that the decision to fire him had nothing to do with the “quality of the work” he has been doing or the company’s financial health. He says he has no plans to leave the company and will continue to “complete the mission of OpenAI.” He adds that he was surprised by the decision to fire him but that it is “important for everyone at the company to remain focused on what matters most to us.” He also thanked everyone for their support and love. Meanwhile, troubled employees streamed out of the company’s offices in San Francisco on Monday. Some wore t-shirts bearing Altman’s face. The hashtag #SaveOpenAI has been trending on Twitter for the past few hours.
