What revolt at OpenAI means for Microsoft
“The mission continues,” tweeted Sam Altman, the co-founder of OpenAI, the startup behind ChatGPT, on November 19th. But precisely where it will continue remains unclear. Mr Altman’s tweet was part of an announcement that he was joining Microsoft. Two days earlier, to the astonishment of Silicon Valley, he had been fired from Openai for not being “consistently candid in his communications with the board”. Then Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s boss, announced that Mr Altman would “lead a new advanced AI [artificial intelligence] research team” within the tech giant. At first it looked like Mr Altman would be accompanied by just a few former colleagues. Many more may follow. The vast majority of OpenAI’s 770 staff have signed a letter threatening to resign if the board fails to reinstate Mr Altman.
The shenanigans involving the world’s hottest startup are not over. The Verge, a tech-focused online publication, has reported that Mr Altman may be willing to return to OpenAI, if the board members responsible for his dismissal themselves resign. Mr Nadella also seems to allow for that possibility. His manoeuvring could look shrewd either way. If Mr Altman returns, then Microsoft, Openai’s biggest investor, would have supported him at a time of crisis, strengthening an important corporate relationship. If Mr Altman and friends do join Microsoft, Mr Nadella could look even smarter. He would have brought in house the talent and technology that the world’s second-most valuable company is betting its future on.
Microsoft has long invested in various forms of AI. It first announced it was working with OpenAI in 2016, and has since invested $13bn in the startup for what is reported to be a 49% stake. The deal means that Openai’s technology has to run on Azure, Microsoft’s cloud-computing arm. In exchange OpenAI has access to enormous amounts of Microsoft’s processing power, which it needs to “train” its…
2023-11-21 03:18:00
Original from www.economist.com
rnrn