Sam Altman, Greg Brockman to join Microsoft to lead new AI research unit

Microsoft is hiring former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman. Altman was fired from OpenAI on Friday, after the board said it “no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.” After a weekend of negotiations to potentially bring Altman back to OpenAI, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced both Sam Altman and Greg Brockman will be joining Microsoft’s new advanced AI research team. 
“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,” says Nadella. “We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success.”

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…

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023

Sam Altman, the chief executive and co-founder of OpenAI, was ousted from his own company on Friday. The abrupt sacking shocked the tech world. Hours later, Greg Brockman, co-founder and president of OpenAI, announced his resignation. What followed after the departure of the top two OpenAI executives was the airing of drama surrounding Altman’s firing, reports of pressure from investors, and then reports of Altman’s likely return as CEO.Meanwhile, Mira Murati, one of the key people involved in the creation of ChatGPT, was appointed interim CEO.Sam Altman’s exit was followed by resignation of several key people, including company’s co-founder Greg Brockman and several top researchers, from the firm.