A perplexing TV interview highlights the confusing nature of the OpenAI situation. You probably heard about the recent drama involving OpenAI in the past few days. Things are getting even stranger as the situation unfolds.
A Brief summary of the Controversy
On Friday evening, the OpenAI non-profit board of directors declared the removal of CEO Sam Altman. The reason remains unconfirmed. Consequently, OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman resigned. However, investors in the for-profit arm, such as Microsoft, expressed discontent with this unexpected news. Less than 24 hours later, OpenAI expressed interest in Altman’s return. As it didn’t occur by the deadline, OpenAI announced a new interim CEO. Subsequently, numerous OpenAI employees threatened to resign.
Adding to everything, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced in the early hours of Monday morning that Sam Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman wouldn’t return to OpenAI; instead, they are set to join Microsoft.
Nadella shared on X that he’s thrilled to announce Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, along with their colleagues, will lead a new advanced AI research team at Microsoft. He also committed to maintaining the company’s partnership with OpenAI.
Nadella’s post conveys a clear message. However, later that day, new reports suggested that Altman’s move to Microsoft was not finalized.
On Monday evening, Nadella had an interview on CNBC with anchor Jon Fortt, who asked the question we’ve all been wondering: “Will Sam Altman become a Microsoft employee?
Nadella Avoids Giving a Direct Answer
Strangely, Nadella avoided providing a direct response to a simple question, even though he had the answer earlier in the day.
Yeah, I mean… on Friday morning, Jon, I woke up, and I was fully committed to our customers, confident in our technology roadmap, and partnered with OpenAI and Sam,” Nadella replied. “And now, as we speak on Monday—I guess it is today—I find myself in exactly the same place.
In the remainder of the interview, when questioned about Altman, Nadella consistently focused on promoting Microsoft’s position in innovative technology and reiterated the company’s “commitment to OpenAI and Sam.
From this interview, it seems Altman isn’t officially a Microsoft employee… yet? Or not at all? The situation appears unclear, and even the CEO of Microsoft, the company that pledged $13 billion to OpenAI, doesn’t seem to know what’s happening.
For now, we all need to continue following the unfolding developments in the OpenAI situation.
