Nearly 500 OpenAI Employees Threaten to Resign and Join Microsoft
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According to Wired, today 490 (some reports say 505, with more employees signing) OpenAI employees signed an open protest letter, stating that unless OpenAI dissolves its board of directors, reinstates Sam Altman as CEO, and brings back former president Greg Brockman, they will resign and join Microsoft. It is reported that OpenAI currently has over 700 employees.
The letter states: "Your actions in firing Sam Altman and removing Greg Brockman from the board have jeopardized all our work and undermined our mission and company. Your actions have clearly demonstrated that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI."
Surprisingly, the signatories of the letter include the company's chief scientist and board member Ilya Sutskever, who is alleged to be the main figure behind the board coup against Altman.
IT Home notes that before the letter was released, Sutskever posted on X, saying: "I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we've built together, and I will do everything I can to reunite the company."
OpenAI's board removed Altman from his position on Friday, claiming that "he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities." OpenAI's CTO Mira Murati was appointed as interim CEO.
After opposition from investors like Microsoft, OpenAI's board seemed willing to let Altman lead the company again. Altman posted a photo on Sunday of himself wearing a visitor badge at the company's headquarters. However, last night, the board informed employees that Altman would not return to the company. Hours later, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Altman and Brockman would join Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team.
Additionally, OpenAI's board has removed Murati as interim CEO and appointed Emmett Shear, the former CEO of video game streaming site Twitch, as interim CEO.
Some OpenAI employees, upon learning that Altman would not return, discussed a course of action overnight. Many employees were frustrated by the lack of communication during Altman's dismissal process.
In their letter, OpenAI employees threatened to join Altman's team at Microsoft. "Microsoft has assured us that if we choose to join, this new subsidiary will offer positions to all OpenAI employees," they wrote.