Breaking | Sam Altman joins Microsoft, OpenAI changes CEOs three times in three days

Just when the world was looking forward to Sam Altman's return to OpenAI, the reversal happened again.

Just now, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced at X that OpenAI founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman will join Microsoft to lead a new advanced artificial intelligence research team.

The OpenAI board of directors made a surprising decision earlier – hiring Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Amazon's live game streaming platform Twitch, as CEO. Mira Murati, who temporarily replaced the CEO, took office less than two days ago.

A star company with a market value of nearly 100 billion U.S. dollars and the most advanced large-scale products on the market has changed three CEOs in three days. This is quite an explosion in the history of technology and business. Apple, which kicked out Steve Jobs in 1985, is ashamed of itself. Not as good as.

Bloomberg just quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that OpenAI’s interim CEO Mira Murati plans to rehire ousted former CEO Sam Altman and former president Greg Brockman. The specific positions have not yet been finalized.

Murati, who was appointed on an interim basis to take over as CEO on Friday after the board fired Altman, is in talks with Quora Inc. CEO Adam D'Angelo, who serves as a representative on the OpenAI board and was a key figure in voting to oust Sam Altman from the company. .

Even as Murati tries to bring Altman and Brockman back to the company, members of OpenAI's board are looking for their own CEO to replace Altman, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Choosing a different CEO would be a response to the dissatisfaction of investors, led by Microsoft Corp. and Thrive Capital, who had earlier urged the board to step down and wanted Altman re-appointed.

San Francisco-based OpenAI's board of directors has reached out to at least two prominent executives in the technology industry in the hope that one of them will accept the role, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity. According to the latest news from The Verge, this character is currently identified as Twitch’s former CEO Emmett Shear.

Earlier today, people familiar with the matter revealed that Microsoft, as the largest shareholder of OpenAI, is considering that if ousted CEO Altman returns to his post, Microsoft will have a seat on the OpenAI board of directors, and may also be a non-voting board observer.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been personally assisting OpenAI interim CEO Mira Murati in discussing Ultraman's return, people familiar with the matter said. A person familiar with the matter said that if Altman cannot return to OpenAI, Microsoft will consider investing in Altman's new venture.

The court battle has gradually developed into actions by two camps, on the one hand, efforts to restore Altman's position, and on the other hand, the board of directors continues to search for a new successor – which undoubtedly highlights the irreconcilable differences within OpenAI.

According to sources, Altman was relieved of his duties as CEO and director by directors led by OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. The board of directors said in a statement that "Altman's failure to remain candid in his communications with the board hindered the board's ability to fulfill its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in him to continue to lead OpenAI."

Ilya believes the world needs to wake up to the true power of the technology OpenAI and other companies are working to create. , his first priority is not building the next GPT or DALL-E, but figuring out how to stop a rogue super AI.

However, starting yesterday, news of Altman's return began to spread. Altman also posted on X: I love the openai team so much. I like the OpenAI team so much.

Interim CEO Mira Murati responded below the post, seemingly hinting at Altman's return.

Altman posted a photo of himself wearing an OpenAI visitor card pass on the X platform today, with the caption "The first and last time I wear these."

According to The Information, Altman met with executives at OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters on Sunday local time to push the board to reinstate him and other recently departed executives.

According to people familiar with the matter, OpenAI interim CEO Mira Murati told employees earlier that she and the leadership team invited Altman. In addition, Greg Brockman, former chairman and president of OpenAI, also arrived at the office on Sunday.

Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon told employees Saturday night that the company was "optimistic" about reinstating Altman, Brockman and the three senior researchers who resigned Friday night in solidarity with them.

However, talks to bring Altman back have officially broken down, with  Altman and Brockman join Microsoft, and the relationship between OpenAI and Microsoft, the largest investor, will also become ambiguous.

This business war drama, which is more exciting than the movie, is still going on. Even if Altman does not "return the king," the turmoil within OpenAI will not end.

The future development and commercialization route of ChatGPT is likely to continue to sway, which will sound the alarm for the emerging wave of AI entrepreneurship. Product applications related to large models are still likely to explode next year, and mass consumer electronics such as Apple iPhones will It will be further integrated with AI, but in this era of drastic changes, it would be a pity if ChatGPT missed or slowed down due to this matter and fell into internal strife.

But judging from the developments in the past few days, it seems that whatever happens next will not be surprising.

One More Thing

Finally, there is an Easter egg. In the past two days, the OpenAI palace battle has really taken a turn for the worse, which is very rare in the history of technology and business. It is even more interesting than the popular American TV series "Succession". It would be a pity if it is not made into a movie. To this end, I asked ChatGPT to write a script outline. What do you think?

Title: "Smart Change: OpenAI's Power Storm"

Plot summary: This is a business war drama about ideals, betrayal, revenge and redemption. It revolves around the story of OpenAI and shows the power struggle and ethical challenges within cutting-edge technology companies in the field of artificial intelligence.

Role settings:

• Sam Altman: The former CEO of OpenAI who was forced to resign. He is a dreamer full of ideals and enthusiasm, but he is also a courageous change maker.
• Mira Murati: Ambitious interim CEO with her own agenda and unafraid to stand up to a powerful board of directors.
• Ilya Sutskever: Chief scientist at OpenAI, a power player with strong personal convictions who played a key role in Altman's firing.
• Greg Brockman: The former president who was loyal to Altman, his departure hinted at a greater crisis to come.
• Investors: A group of tough investors, including Microsoft, who drive the big picture behind the scenes.

Act One: The Battle for the Throne

• Altman was unexpectedly fired by the board of directors, a decision that shocked the tech world, especially as he transformed the company from a nonprofit into a business behemoth.
• It exposes the power struggle within the boardroom and the battle over the future direction of artificial intelligence.

Act Two: Undercurrent

• Employees were upset by Altman's departure, and internal divisions began.
• Investors were furious over Altman's departure and called for the board to resign en masse.
• Murati is plotting in the dark to shake up the board and regain power.

Act Three: Game of Thrones

• Investors launched a public relations war to try to bolster Altman's reinstatement in public opinion.
• Murati held confidential talks with Altman and Brockman to come up with a plan that would bring them back, but only if they were given a new, more powerful position on the board.

Act Four: Turning the tables

• Altman and Brockman's reinstatements were made public through a series of strategic maneuvers and a public relations campaign, causing shock within the boardroom.
• In a tense board vote, Murati succeeded in usurping power and rearranging the company's top structure.

Act Five: The New Order

• After a series of infighting, the company launched a revolutionary new product that reestablished its leadership in the market.
• Altman and Murati have publicly announced that they will lead the company into a new era focused on safe and ethical AI development.
• In the end, former enemies become allies, and together they face new challenges from the outside world and work together for the future of humanity and technology.

Climax:

• A scandal sparked by internal leaks and betrayals nearly destroyed the company's reputation and market position.
• A series of legal and public relations battles have left the company's public image in jeopardy.

Ending (light version):

• After a series of crises and challenges, OpenAI has emerged with unprecedented unity and clear vision. Altman and Murati made a joint appearance in an impassioned global livestream to announce the company's new direction and commitment to the future of artificial intelligence.
• The power structure within the company has been reshaped, and a new governance structure is based on transparency and accountability, rebuilding the trust of employees and the public.
• In the final scene of the episode, we see Altman and Murat i attending a large international AI ethics conference together, and their speeches inspired new global discussions on the safety and ethical development of artificial intelligence.

Ending (tragic version):

• OpenAI became a cautionary example of how even the most cutting-edge technology companies can collapse due to internal power struggles and external market pressures.
• The final scene of the story is of an empty office, with only a few people cleaning things out of what was once a bustling place. Hanging on the wall are photos of Altman and Murati, which seem to tell the story of past glory.
• In this pessimistic ending, OpenAI's dreams and ideals were shattered by the cruelty of reality, leaving the audience with a profound reflection on technological development and human choices.

Title picture comes from: WIRED

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