Super powerful group fires CEO forced to resign by workers, declares “retirement” if demands are not met

It all stems from the shocking incident on November 17, when CEO Sam Altman was suddenly fired.

In the letter signed by about 500 of OpenAI’s 770 employees, protesters said they “cannot work for or with people who lack the ability, judgment, and interest in the mission.” mission of the company and to the employees”.

The letter also affirms that without a new Board of Directors and the reinstatement of Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, they will transfer their jobs to Microsoft, the company has just announced the hiring of two fired leaders of Microsoft. OpenAI to run a new group dedicated to its AI research.

“Microsoft has assured us that all OpenAI employees will have jobs at this subsidiary if we agree to join,” the letter said.

This letter was officially confirmed by OpenAI’s chief technology officer, Mira Murati, who briefly served as CEO, and Ilya Sutskever, a vocal member of the company’s board of directors.

Before that, there was a wave on social network X (formerly Twitter) from OpenAI employees, saying that this company would be nothing without its staff. It also shows OpenAI employees’ solidarity with ousted leaders Altaman and Brockman.

The letter also said that the dismissal of CEO Altman was a move that surprised OpenAI employees as well as Microsoft, the startup’s largest shareholder and closest technology partner. A coalition of powerful investors, corporate leaders and Microsoft executives tried to get Altman reinstated, but to no avail.

Late Sunday, OpenAI’s four-person board of directors appointed Emmett Shear, co-founder and former CEO of game streaming site Twitch, as CEO of OpenAI.

Reference: Bloomberg