“Mission Continues”: Sam Altman On Joining Microsoft After OpenAI Sacking

“The mission continues,” Sam Altman said

Hours after the efforts to reinstate Sam Altman as the CEO of OpenAI failed, Satya Nadella announced the ChatGPT star will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team.

Satya Nadella also said that Greg Brockman – who cofounded OpenAI – will also be joining the team.

“We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI’s new leadership team and working with them. And 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. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success,” Nadella said on X – formerly known as Twitter.

We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners. We look forward to getting to know Emmett…

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 20, 2023

“The mission continues,” Sam Altman said on X. 

the mission continues https://t.co/d1pHiFxcSe

— Sam Altman (@sama) November 20, 2023

On Sunday, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman joined executives at the OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters to discuss a possible return. 

He posted a picture of himself from the OpenAI headquarters, wearing a guest badge. Sharing the picture, he wrote, “first and last time i ever wear one of these.” 

first and last time i ever wear one of these pic.twitter.com/u3iKwyWj0a

— Sam Altman (@sama) November 19, 2023

Sam Altman was fired on Saturday with the company board saying that it has “lost confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI”.

The dismissal prompted co-founder Greg Brockman to announce his departure too.

Sam Altman called his sacking “a weird experience” in many ways. “I love you all. Today was a weird experience in many ways. But one unexpected one is that it has been sorta like reading your own eulogy while you’re still alive. The outpouring of love is awesome,” he said.

i love you all.

today was a weird experience in many ways. but one unexpected one is that it has been sorta like reading your own eulogy while you’re still alive. the outpouring of love is awesome.

one takeaway: go tell your friends how great you think they are.

— Sam Altman (@sama) November 18, 2023

OpenAI’s decision to fire Altman followed wide-ranging disagreements between the chief executive and his board.

Sam Altman, 38, became a tech world sensation with the release of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot with unprecedented capabilities, churning out human-level content like poems or artwork in just seconds.