In recent appearances on CNBC and Bloomberg TV, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella indicated the potential for Sam Altman, recently ousted as CEO of OpenAI by the board of directors, to rejoin OpenAI in some capacity.
This comes in contrast to Altman's earlier announcement today, expressing his intention to join a newly-established AI research team at Microsoft, alongside former OpenAI president Greg Brockman and other ex-OpenAI researchers.
“Obviously, we want Sam and Greg to have a fantastic home if they’re not going to be in OpenAI,” Nadella said in an interview on CNBC. Asked whether Altman would return to OpenAI, Nadella added: “That’s for, you know, [the] OpenAI board and management and the employees to choose … [Microsoft] chose to explicitly partner with OpenAI [and] obviously that depends on the people at OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft, so I’m open to both options.”
Earlier today, The Verge had reported that Sam Altman’s unexpected transition to Microsoft and his abrupt dismissal from OpenAI is not a done deal. Both Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman are open to returning to OpenAI, contingent upon the departure of the remaining board members who were involved in Altman's termination.
This comes after the turbulent events that have transpired at OpenAI over the course of last week. Since Friday, OpenAI has been embroiled in an ongoing internal power struggle, with the majority of its employees opposing the three-person board that stands against Altman. Notably, Ilya Sutskever, who reportedly played a significant role in Altman's removal just days prior, has changed his stance. On Monday, he added his name to an open letter addressed to the board, urging their resignation and the reinstatement of Altman—an appeal that has garnered nearly unanimous support from the entire company.
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