Over 500 employees of OpenAI have threatened to leave the company and join Microsoft if the board of directors does not resign. The employees expressed criticism and disgust after the dismissal of co-founder Sam Altman and the appointment of new CEO Mira Murati, which she rejected. The threat to leave and join Microsoft comes after the company’s decision to remove Altman from his position as executive director. The employees argue that Microsoft has assured them of positions within the new subsidiary if they decide to join.
The removal of Altman by the OpenIA board caused senior officials to leave the company. Despite pressure from Microsoft and other investors to bring back Altman, OpenAI appointed Emmett Shear as the new CEO. OpenAI defended its decision about Altman in a memo sent to employees, maintaining that his behavior and lack of transparency undermined the board’s ability to effectively oversee the company.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced the hiring of Altman and other colleagues to lead a new or advanced AI research team at Microsoft. Despite the controversy surrounding Altman’s dismissal, Microsoft has invested more than $10 billion in OpenAI and has implemented the technology developed by the startup in its own products.
OpenAI competes with other companies, including Microsoft, Google, and Meta, in the development of AI-based applications. The company’s generative AI platforms, such as ChatGPT, are powered by large amounts of data, allowing them to answer questions in human-like language, generate and manipulate images, and create sounds and expressions.
The situation has sparked a significant amount of controversy within the AI community, and the future of OpenAI remains uncertain as employees and senior officials express their dissatisfaction with the company’s leadership.