Sam Altman leaves OpenAI to join Microsoft as new AI chief
Sam Altman, the former CEO of OpenAI, has been hired by Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team, the company announced on Monday. Altman will be joined by several other former OpenAI employees, including cofounder and CTO Greg Brockman, who will serve as Altman’s deputy.
Altman’s move comes after he was ousted from OpenAI on Friday, following a boardroom coup led by Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and cofounder of OpenAI. According to sources, Musk was unhappy with Altman’s vision and strategy for the AI research lab, which aims to create artificial general intelligence (AGI), a level of AI that can perform any task that a human can.
Musk, who has been vocal about the potential dangers of AGI, reportedly wanted OpenAI to focus more on safety and ethics, while Altman wanted to pursue more ambitious and risky projects, such as ChatGPT, a conversational AI system that can generate realistic and engaging text and speech. ChatGPT, which was launched in April 2023, became a viral sensation, attracting millions of users who interacted with the AI on various topics, from politics to poetry.
Musk also disagreed with Altman’s decision to turn OpenAI into a hybrid organization, with both a nonprofit and a for-profit arm, in 2019. The move was intended to raise more funds and attract more talent for OpenAI, but Musk argued that it compromised the original mission of OpenAI, which was to ensure that AGI would be aligned with human values and benefit humanity as a whole.
In a statement, Altman said he was excited to join Microsoft and continue his work on advancing AI. “Microsoft has been a pioneer and a leader in AI for decades, and I’m honored to join them and lead a new team that will push the boundaries of what AI can do,” he said. “I believe that AI has the potential to transform every aspect of our lives, from health care to education to entertainment, and I’m looking forward to working with some of the brightest minds in the field to make that happen.”
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella welcomed Altman and his colleagues in a tweet, saying that he was “thrilled” to have them on board. “Sam Altman and Greg Brockman are visionary leaders in AI, and I’m thrilled to have them and their colleagues join Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team,” he wrote. “Together, we will create AI that empowers everyone and every organization on the planet to achieve more.”
OpenAI, meanwhile, announced that Emmett Shear, the former CEO of Twitch, the popular live streaming platform, will take over as interim CEO, while Musk will remain as the chairman of the board. In a blog post, OpenAI thanked Altman and Brockman for their contributions and said that it will continue to pursue its vision of creating and ensuring the safe and beneficial use of AGI. “We are grateful for Sam and Greg’s leadership and vision, and we wish them all the best in their future endeavors,” the post read. “We remain committed to our goal of creating and ensuring the safe and beneficial use of artificial general intelligence, and we look forward to working with our partners and the broader AI community to make that happen.”
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