The termination of Salm Altman, CEO, OpenAI by the board members of the company hasn’t gone down well with the employees. Over 500 of them have threatened to quit the company unless the current board members step down. They also indicated plans to join former leader Sam Altman at Microsoft’s new AI division.
The letter conveyed dissatisfaction with the termination of Sam Altman and the removal of Greg Brockman from the board, stating that these actions had jeopardised their work, undermined the mission, and questioned the competence of the of OpenAI.
As per media reports, the group of employees issuing the threat reportedly included key figures such as Mira Murati, chief technology officer; Ilya Sutskever, chief data scientist; and Brad Lightcap, chief operating officer of the company.
The development comes a day after OpenAI removed Altman from the CEO position and appointed Emmett Shear, co-founder, Twitch, as the interim CEO of the company.
On 21 November, 2023, Satya Nadella, CEO,Microsoft announced that Sam Altman, former CEO of OpenAI, would be joining Microsoft along with Greg Brockman to lead a new advanced in-house AI research team. Altman was removed from his position at OpenAI, causing unrest among investors and employees who strongly sought that he be reinstated.
Despite Microsoft’s substantial $11 billion investment in OpenAI, the company chose to establish its own in-house AI unit. Nadella confirmed Emmett Shear as the reported new OpenAI CEO, expressing anticipation for collaboration.
Microsoft will continue to partner with OpenAI, emphasising its commitment to advancing AI technology. Altman, known for his innovative views on AI, previously led OpenAI and has a background in entrepreneurship, including roles at WorldCoin and Y Combinator, as well as a brief stint as the CEO of Reddit.