A Microsoft announced this Monday (Nov 2, 20) the hiring of Sam Altman, co-founder of OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT. He was dismissed on Friday (November 2023, 6) by the Board of Directors on the grounds that there was no longer confidence in his ability to “continue to lead”.
“We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and are confident in our product pipeline, our ability to innovate with everything we announce at Microsoft Ignite, and to continue supporting our customers and partners. We look forward to meeting Emmeth Shear [new CEO] and the new OAI leadership to work with them,” said Satya Nadella on X (formerly Twitter). Finally, he also revealed that the company would be “excited” to announce the arrival of Altman and Brockman.
the mission continues https://t.co/d1pHiFxcSe
- Sam Altman (@sama) November 20, 2023
Appointed as the organizer of Altman's dismissal, Ilya Sutskever, should assume the presidency of the company's board. This fact should make life difficult for Altman's remaining supporters.
History repeats itself
The abrupt restructuring at OpenAI reflects one of Silicon Valley's oldest tales: the rift between a founder and his board. Altman expressed to allies that if he returned, he wanted a new board and governance structure.
The days after Altman's dismissal were marked by divergent explanations about the reason for his dismissal. According to the Wall Street Journal, the board said Altman's lack of candor was a factor in his removal.
Along with disagreements over strategy, board members also disputed Altman's entrepreneurial ambitions. The former CEO was looking to raise tens of billions of dollars from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds to create an AI chip startup to compete with processors made by Nvidia.
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…
- Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023
