- Satya Nadella said Sam Altman will work with Microsoft regardless of where he ends up working.
- On Monday, Microsoft’s CEO announced he had hired Altman following the shocking firing of the former OpenAI CEO.
- Altman is reportedly considering returning to OpenAI if the board that fired him steps down.
On Monday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced he was hiring Sam Altman. The decision follows a tumultuous weekend in Silicon Valley, after which the former CEO of OpenAI was fired from the artificial intelligence startup.
Nadella also wrote to former Open AI CEO Greg Brockman in the post on X that two artificial intelligence experts will lead a “new advanced artificial intelligence research team” at Microsoft.
However, both Altman and Brockman are considering returning to OpenAI if board members decide to step down, Edge announced on Monday, citing multiple anonymous sources.
Still, Nadella said On Monday, Bloomberg TV it doesn’t matter where Altman ends up working – because “no matter where Sam is, he’s working with Microsoft.”
Microsoft is an investor in OpenAI and more are coming in $10 billion for an AI startup.
The tech giant is also seen as a big winner in the weekend drama at OpenAI, as the new AI venture led by Altman and Brockman could be an OpenAI competitor.
Nadella endorsed Altman in an interview with Bloomberg TV, saying he was confident in his leadership. He also said he didn’t know why OpenAI’s board fired Altman.
“I wasn’t told anything,” he told the media.
“The board hasn’t discussed anything Sam has done, other than some communication breakdowns, and no one on the board has told me directly about any issues,” he said.
Only OpenAI told Microsoft about Altman’s takedown for several minutes ahead of its announcement, sources told Business Insider’s Kali Hays and Ashley Stewart.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to BI’s request for comment sent outside normal business hours.
