OpenAI is in danger, as more than 500 employees threaten to quit unless Sam Altman comes back

The tech world has been taken by surprise over the last few days, as OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, was fired by the company’s board, just a few weeks after the company’s first-ever OpenAI Dev Days event.

The announcement, made on November 17th, sees OpenAI wanting to transition to a new leadership, after the board decided Altman was entirely candid with them in his position, concluding that they no longer trust him to lead OpenAI, according to the company’s press release.

Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.

OpenAI

OpenAI’s CTO, Mira Murati was then appointed as the new interim CEO, following Altman’s departure. Altman, on the other hand, posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), saying that he was grateful to work with talented people, and would let the world know what’s next.

i loved my time at openai. it was transformative for me personally, and hopefully the world a little bit. most of all i loved working with such talented people. will have more to say about what’s next later.

Sam Altman

However, it didn’t take long for Microsoft to step in, as the Redmond-based tech giant announced that it is hiring Altman to lead a new AI department within the company, according to Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella.

And we’re extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft

Hundreds of employees threaten to quit OpenAI unless Sam Altman comes back

As Altman has already found a new place in Microsoft to continue working on AI development, his former colleagues back at OpenAI are now threatening to leave the company if the board is not changed and Altman doesn’t come back as CEO.

In a letter published by Wired, the employees are suggesting they may quit and join Altman’s new venture at Microsoft, in a move that would leave OpenAI in a precarious state.

Let’s not forget that OpenAI is the world’s leading AI company, and its product, ChatGPT, has gone on to become the most popular AI tool in less than a year since it was launched. While the press release for Altman’s departure does not reveal any information on the reasoning behind the firing, other than a lack of trust, Microsoft has been hit by the news, with the company’s stock price being impacted.

Over the weekend, a suite of very volatile decisions followed: OpenAI reconsidered its decision and wanted Altman back (which makes us believe Microsoft intervened), however, Altman was later announced to have been hired by the Redmond-based tech giant. The reason: well, AI development, of course, but also to get the stock price back on track. And it worked, according to a new report by The New York Times.

OpenAI in danger?

The new letter signed by more than 500 OpenAI employees mentions the possibility of these employees resigning and joining Altman’s new division at Microsoft. The Redmond-based tech giant might get its own internal OpenAI, which could seriously threaten the position of OpenAI on the market.

If we’re taking a closer look, it all makes sense: Microsoft has been at the forefront of AI ever since the concept got popular, and the company has been releasing lots of AI features to its products, including its now famous Copilot, which was released on Windows 11 and Windows 10 recently.

It’s still very early to conclude the fate of OpenAI, as Sam Altman might return as its CEO once again, indeed. A new board? Less likely. OpenAI in danger? Well, it could be. Microsoft still wants to honor its partnership with the company, with Satya Nadella saying that the Redmond-based giant is committed to working together to advance AI development.

We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI’s new leadership team and working with them.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft

We’ll have to see what happens, but either way, it won’t end well for OpenAI, unless the company makes decisions everyone agrees upon.

Here’s the letter, per Wired.

To the Board of Directors at OpenAI,

OpenAI is the world’s leading AI company. We, the employees of OpenAI, have developed the best models and pushed the field to new frontiers. Our work on AI safety and governance shapes global norms. The products we built are used by millions of people around the world. Until now, the company we work for and cherish has never been in a stronger position.

The process through which you terminated Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman from the board has jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and company. Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAI.

When we all unexpectedly learned of your decision, the leadership team of OpenAI acted swiftly to stabilize the company. They carefully listened to your concerns and tried to cooperate with you on all grounds. Despite many requests for specific facts for your allegations, you have never provided any written evidence. They also increasingly realized you were not capable of carrying out your duties, and were negotiating in bad faith.

The leadership team suggested that the most stabilizing path forward – the one that would best serve our mission, company, stakeholders, employees and the public – would be for you to resign and put in place a qualified board that could lead the company forward in stability.

Leadership worked with you around the clock to find a mutually agreeable outcome. Yet within two days of your initial decision, you again replaced interim CEO Mira Murati against the best interests of the company. You also informed the leadership team that allowing the company to be destroyed “would be consistent with the mission.”

Your actions have made it obvious that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI. We are unable to work for or with people that lack competence, judgement and care for our mission and employees. We, the undersigned, may choose to resign from OpenAI and join the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary run by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. Microsoft has assured us that there are positions for all OpenAI employees at this new subsidiary should we choose to join. We will take this step imminently, unless all current board members resign, and the board appoints two new lead independent directors, such as Bret Taylor and Will Hurd, and reinstates Sam Altman and Greg Brockman.

What do you make of this situation?