Abu Zar Mishwani
Emmett Shear, the former head of Twitch, is now in charge at OpenAI, taking over from Sam Altman. Altman is moving to Microsoft to lead a new team focused on advanced AI research, according to Microsoft’s CEO, announced on Sunday.
Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, stated on X, “We are excited to meet Emmett Shear and the new leadership team at OpenAI. We’re eager to collaborate with them.” Nadella emphasized Microsoft’s ongoing dedication to its partnership with OpenAI.
Emmett Shear has been appointed as the interim CEO, according to information provided to Reuters by an informed source.
Choosing not to reinstate Altman as the CEO of the company responsible for ChatGPT has left investors and employees perplexed. There were efforts from within the firm to bring him back after the board unexpectedly let him go on Friday, causing a stir in the tech industry.
There are concerns that the sudden removal of Sam Altman could trigger a significant loss of talented individuals from the company, potentially affecting an impending $86 billion share sale.
Nadella mentioned that Sam Altman would be joining Microsoft to “lead a new advanced AI research team.”
According to a previous Reuters report, Sam Altman was in discussions about the possibility of returning to OpenAI. These talks involved the possibility of changing the company’s governance structure. Simultaneously, Altman was considering the prospect of launching a new AI venture.
Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, who resigned as chairman from the OpenAI board as part of the recent management changes, attended a meeting with executives at the company’s headquarters on Sunday. This gathering took place after interim CEO Mira Murati informed the staff that she had invited Altman, as reported earlier by The Information on Sunday.
Satya Nadella mentioned that Greg Brockman would also be joining Microsoft, the software company.
On Sunday, Sam Altman shared an image on X of himself wearing an OpenAI guest badge, captioning it with “first and last time i ever wear one of these.” In a separate X post, he reshared Satya Nadella’s message, adding his comment, “the mission continues.”
Emmett Shear, who co-founded Twitch, resigned from the live video streaming platform owned by Amazon.com earlier this year.
Greg Brockman resigned due to Sam Altman’s dismissal on Friday. The sudden departure of both executives surprised many employees, who discovered about the abrupt management change through an internal message and the company’s public blog.
Following the change in CEO, including the departure of Sam Altman, several researchers, including Szymon Sidor, have left the company, as confirmed by two individuals familiar with the matter. Sidor himself has acknowledged his decision to quit.
The initial report on Emmett Shear’s appointment as interim CEO was first made by The Information.
Following the internal announcement of Emmett Shear’s appointment, distressed employees “streamed out” of OpenAI headquarters in San Francisco, according to The Information.
According to a source familiar with the situation, The Information reported that dozens of employees internally announced their resignation from the company on Sunday night.