Microsoft has hired Sam Altman and Greg Brockman after OpenAI has confirmed that Altman won’t be returning. CEO Satya Nadella announced the hirings in a post. Altman and colleagues will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. However, Microsoft has assured that they will remain committed to their partnership with OpenAI. Despite Microsoft’s commitment, the move is a clear hedging on that bet, and much of OpenAI’s talent may be moving to Microsoft. Altman and Brockman’s departures may stall progress on the widely-used ChatGPT product. Altman confirmed his hiring by Microsoft, with a statement that “the mission continues.” It was rumored that Altman may return to OpenAI, but talks broke down. Instead, Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear was appointed as OpenAI’s new CEO. Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI will likely be affected by the former OpenAI CEO leading Microsoft’s own AI research team. Further developments are expected. OpenAI has an odd corporate structure with both a for-profit and non-profit body, which has an impact on Microsoft’s investment. Update: OpenAI co-founder, board member and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever has released a statement stating that he never intended to harm OpenAI and will do everything he can to reunite the company.
Microsoft Recruits Sam Altman and Former OpenAI Team to Build New AI Research Team
