Plot twist: Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to join OpenAI’s financer Microsoft

Sam Altman was recently fired from OpenAI

Satya Nadella has disclosed that Sam Altman, the ex-CEO of OpenAI, and Greg Brockman, the former president, are set to spearhead a novel team at Microsoft dedicated to advanced Artificial Intelligence research. This announcement follows Altman’s recent departure from OpenAI, the organization he co-founded.

“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,” says Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft on the platform X.

“We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI’s new leadership team and working with them. And we’re extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success.” he further added in his post.

Sam and Greg respond to Satya Nadella’s announcement as “mission continues,” reposting his announcement on X.

Microsoft’s substantial $13-billion investment in AI, particularly in OpenAI, the architect behind ChatGPT, was not just a financial commitment to the company, but also a substantial endorsement of Sam Altman. Despite Microsoft’s nearly 50% ownership of the startup, their efforts to advocate for Altman’s reinstatement were unsuccessful against the board’s decision. The market witnessed a decline in the company’s shares on November 17 following Altman’s termination.

Nadella earlier had assured Altman support in his upcoming ventures. He also announced Sam as the CEO of the new group, “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, and LinkedIn, and I’m looking forward to having you do the same.”