Microsoft hires former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

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.”

Altman’s Microsoft hiring comes just hours after negotiations with OpenAI’s board failed to bring him back as OpenAI CEO. Instead, former Twitch CEO and co-founder Emmett Shear has been named as interim CEO, according to a source speaking to The Verge. He will take over from Mira Murati, who was named interim OpenAI CEO following Altman’s shock firing on Friday. OpenAI hasn’t confirmed Shear’s appointment, but given Microsoft’s hiring of Altman it can’t be far away from announcing a new leadership structure.

Altman had been negotiating to return as OpenAI CEO, but OpenAI’s four-person board refused to step down and let him return, according to multiple sources speaking to The Verge.