Sam Altman, founder and face of OpenAI, was unexpectedly and brutally fired from OpenAI this weekend. Even pressure from investors could not reverse the dismissal of the ex-CEO. Microsoft is now bringing in the AI ​​specialist itself.

Sam Altman is moving to Microsoft after his sudden resignation from OpenAI. Microsoft boss Satya Nadella himself announced this. Greg Brockman is also moving to Microsoft, just like other colleagues who resigned from OpenAI. The musical chairs that began on Friday seem to be over.

Surprise

Just before the weekend, to everyone’s surprise, OpenAI’s board fired founder and CEO Sam Altman. In the days prior, Altman made several appearances, including as a keynote speaker at OpenAI DevDay and the APEC Summit in San Francisco. There Altman spoke about the future of AI and his company. There were no signs that the AI ​​specialist would lose his position.

The board said it had lost confidence in Altman’s ability to continue to lead the company. He would not have been consistently open in his communication with the council. It became immediately clear that not everyone agreed with this when co-founder Greg Brockman resigned. Brockman was chairman of the board, but was completely overlooked for this decision. A third co-founder, Russian-Israeli-Canadian Ilya Sutskever, is said to be the driving force behind the dismissal.

The board’s unclear motives were met with some misunderstandings. Investor Microsoft’s stock suffered a small decline and the company had to reaffirm its confidence in OpenAI through a statement, even if it seemed that the company itself was not happy with how things were turning out. The new Microsoft employee confirms that Nadella and his employees were behind Altman. Several important researchers also resigned after Altman’s departure and now also appear to have found shelter at Microsoft.

Failed counter move

The original intention was to reverse the dismissal by the board. Several investors backed Altman, including Thrive Capital and Sequoia Capital. They wanted the former CEO reinstated and asked Microsoft for help to make this happen. Since there was actually no important reason for the dismissal, the discussions actually began with that goal in mind. These conversations lasted for a while but eventually ended. Altman reportedly called for the existing board to be replaced. Then there was disagreement about who would get a seat.

The whole matter is extremely painful and unprofessional. The fact that important investors do not have a seat on the board of directors plays a major role. The way the existing council has handled the dismissal is also amateurish. Altman, for his part, may have lost some focus, but he is still the face of OpenAI. Only time will tell what impact his departure will have on the company. Altman himself posted the opening photo of this article on X (Twitter) with the caption that it was the first and last time he would wear an OpenAI visitor badge.

Microsoft manages to bring the situation under control. Altman’s departure seemed to have a negative impact on confidence in the company’s AI future, but by connecting the OpenAI founder with co-founder Brockman and a few loyal researchers, Satya Nadella is bringing the talent closer to engagement than ever before.