OpenAI Coup: Over 500 of 700 employees threaten to quit and join Sam Altman at Microsoft; read full letter

A large number of employees at OpenAI have expressed their intention to leave the company and join Microsoft. This move comes after Microsoft hired Sam Altman, the former CEO of OpenAI, and Greg Brockman, a co-founder of OpenAI, to lead a new advanced AI research team. The employees have written a letter to the OpenAI board, stating that they will resign if Altman and Brockman are not reinstated. However, the board has already appointed a new CEO, indicating that it is unlikely to change its decision.

In accordance with the letter, the employees accused the board of undermining their work and the company’s mission. They also reject the notion that OpenAI was advancing too quickly without proper safety considerations. OpenAI’s chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever, who reportedly led the effort to remove Altman, expressed regret over the internal chaos at OpenAI. Despite his role in the board’s actions, Sutskever’s name is also on the list of potential resignations.

Microsoft has created a special advanced AI research team to accommodate the former OpenAI employees. Altman has been offered the CEO position to lead this division. This is an unusual move for Microsoft, which typically reserves the CEO title for leaders of large divisions or acquired companies.

Altman’s hiring by Microsoft occurred shortly after negotiations with OpenAI’s board failed to reinstate him as OpenAI’s CEO. Instead, Emmett Shear, the former CEO and co-founder of Twitch, has been named as the interim CEO. Microsoft’s new advanced AI research team, led by Altman and Brockman, was announced just a week after Microsoft revealed that it has developed its own custom AI chip. This chip can be used to train large language models and could potentially reduce reliance on Nvidia.

Read the entire letter by the OpenAI employees to the board here: 


To the Board of Directors at OpenAl,

OpenAl is the world's leading Al company. We, the employees of OpenAl, have developed the best models and pushed the field to new frontiers. Our work on Al safety and governance shapes global norms. The products we built are used by millions of people around the world. Until now, the company we work for and cherish has never been in a stronger position.

The process through which you terminated Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman from the board has jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and company. Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAl.

When we all unexpectedly learned of your decision, the leadership team of OpenAl acted swiftly to stabilize the company. They carefully listened to your concerns and tried to cooperate with you on all grounds. Despite many requests for specific facts for your allegations, you have never provided any written evidence. They also increasingly realized you were not capable of carrying out your duties, and were negotiating in bad faith.

The leadership team suggested that the most stabilizing path forward the one that would best serve our mission, company, stakeholders, employees and the public - would be for you to resign and put in place a qualified board that could lead the company forward in stability. Leadership worked with you around the clock to find a mutually agreeable outcome. Yet within two days of your initial decision, you again replaced interim CEO Mira Murati against the best interests of the company. You also informed the leadership team that allowing the company to be destroyed "would be consistent with the mission."

Your actions have made it obvious that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAl. We are unable to work for or with people that lack competence, judgement and care for our mission and employees. We, the undersigned, may choose to resign from OpenAl and join the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary run by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. Microsoft has assured us that there are positions for all OpenAl employees at this new subsidiary should we choose to join. We will take this step imminently, unless all current board members resign, and the board appoints two new lead independent directors, such as Bret Taylor and Will Hurd, and reinstates Sam Altman and Greg Brockman.

The letter was signed by 12 individuals including Ilya Sutskever, who was a part of the board that fired Altman. Check the whole list below

1. Mira Murati

2. Brad Lightcap

3. Jason Kwon

4. Wojciech Zaremba

5. Alec Radford

6. Anna Makanju

7. Bob McGrew

8. Srinivas Narayanan

9. Che Chang

10. Lillian Weng

11. Mark Chen

12. Ilya Sutskever