Hundreds of employees want to quit and move to Microsoft with Sam Altman

(Image: mariia shalabaieva über unsplash)

The chaos surrounding OpenAI never ends. After Sam Altman was fired from OpenAI, there were rumors of his return just a day later. This did not happen – instead, Twitch co-founder Emmet Shear took over his position.

Now Microsoft boss Satya Nadella has announced via X that Sam Altman and Greg Brockann (co-founders of OpenAI) will be working at Microsoft in a new AI research team in the future.

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This got a new ball rolling: Over 500 of OpenAI’s approximately 700 employees are said to be threatening to leave the company and move to Microsoft in an open letter.

Current board of directors should resign

The letter sharply criticizes OpenAI’s board of directors. The staff accuses him of lacking competence, judgment and care for OpenAI’s mission and its employees.

Staff are calling on the entire board to resign so a new one can be formed. This could include leading independent members, such as Bret Taylor and Will Hurd. They are also calling for the reinstatement of Sam Altman and Greg Brockmann.

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If the demands are not met, the employees want to move to the new AI research team at Microsoft. The company has probably already promised them enough open positions.

Curiously, the letter was also signed by Ilya Sutskever. He is also a board member and leading scientist at OpenAI and is himself accused of coordinating Altman’s expulsion.

The letter itself does not specifically mention the number of signatures and there are different reports about it that conflict. Many internationally recognized publications, such as CNN, estimate around 500 signatures. Others, such as Forbes, even speak of 700 – that would be almost the entire workforce of the company.

In the letter itself – at least in the part that can be viewed by the public – twelve signatures can be seen. It is therefore possible that more signatures are displayed on pages that are not publicly accessible in order to protect employee data.

The situation surrounding OpenAI remains turbulent and the next 24 hours could decide the future of the company. We will continue to keep an eye on the situation surrounding OpenAI and will inform you of any new developments.