Microsoft has just made a significant announcement with the hiring of Sam Altman, co-founder and former CEO of OpenAI, as part of its new artificial intelligence research team. The company’s CEO, Satya Nadella, announced the news on Twitter and wrote that the mission continues.
Altman and Greg Brockman, both co-founders of OpenAI, will join Microsoft along with other colleagues to lead this new project. Altman shared his excitement for the project and said he will build something new that will be incredible. Brockman also announced the recruitment of several other key OpenAI employees for this new project within Microsoft.
The announcement comes after a tumultuous weekend for OpenAI, where Sam Altman was suddenly fired following a review process by the board of directors. The body no longer had confidence in its ability to lead OpenAI. However, Emmett Shear, former Twitch boss, has accepted the position as interim CEO at OpenAI and plans to launch an independent investigation within 30 days to shed light on Altman’s firing and the upheaval within the start-up.