OpenAI’s ex-CEO Sam Altman to lead Microsoft’s new advanced AI research team

I’m super excited to have you join as CEO of this new group, Sam, setting a new pace for innovation. We’ve learned a lot over the years about how to give founders and innovators space to build independent identities and cultures within Microsoft, including GitHub, Mojang Studios,…

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023

Nadella mentioned that Altman and Brockman will be joined by “colleagues,” suggesting that Microsoft may have plans to hire other former OpenAI employees who left the company over the weekend.

Nadella, whose firm has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI, emphasized that Microsoft remains committed to the startup.

“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 Shear and OAI’s new leadership team and working with them,” Nadella added.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Altman acknowledged he was joining Microsoft by quoting Nadella, saying “the mission continues.” Nadella then responded by providing a subtle hint at what would be Altman’s role at Microsoft. “We’ve learned a lot over the years about how to give founders and innovators space to build independent identities and cultures within Microsoft, including GitHub, Mojang Studios, and LinkedIn, and I’m looking forward to having you do the same.”

Following the announcement, hundreds of OpenAI employees have signed a letter demanding that either OpenAI’s remaining board members resign or those OpenAI’s employees join Microsoft and work under Sam Altman.

About 650 / 770 signed at this moment. As people start waking up, more will come. All the efforts started after 1:30 AM, 500+ within two hours and all of this after 2 crazy days with very little sleep.

— Lilian Weng (@lilianweng) November 20, 2023

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“Your actions have made it obvious that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI,” the letter says. About 667 people have signed the letter. OpenAI has about 770 employees, as of now.