Microsoft Takes Observer Position On OpenAI’s Board As Sam Altman Returns

Microsoft, an American multinational technology corporation, has joined OpenAI’s board as Sam Altman has finally returned as the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of the organization.  

OpenAI, an American artificial intelligence research company, has been making headlines in recent days. Sam Altman was fired by OpenAI’s board over disagreements on development and monetization of artificial intelligence (AI). His sudden exit from OpenAI shocked all the employees. Subsequently, almost 740 out of 770 employees at OpenAI threatened to quit the company if the board didn’t bring back Sam Altman. After all the drama, OpenAI agreed to bring back Sam Altman as CEO of the organization.

Microsoft joins OpenAI’s board

On Thursday, Microsoft joined OpenAI’s board after the return of Sam Altman. Microsoft took a non-voting observer seat on the OpenAI’s board. 

The observer position means Microsoft’s representative and senior employees can attend OpenAI’s board meetings but the company will not have voting rights on important matters. 

OpenAI’s new board consists of former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary, and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, who was part of the board who fired Sam Altman. 

Mira Murati, who became interim CEO after Sam Altman’s departure, is once again became the company’s CTO (Chief Technology Officer). 

Greg Brockman would also return as the President of the company. OpenAI’s chief scientist Ilya Sutskever will not be part of the board. 

Microsoft has invested over $10 billion into OpenAI and owns 49% of the company. Microsoft is also one of the World’s Best Employers 2023. Microsoft held second position on Forbes’ ‘World’s Best Employers’ list. 

What did Sam Altman say?

Sam Altman said in the memo, “The fact that we did not lose a single customer will drive us to work even harder for you.” He also said, “Greg and I are partners in running this company. We have never quite figured out how to communicate that on the org chart, but we will.”