ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS /Getty Images
For the past four years, Sam Altman has been the very visible chief executive officer of OpenAI. Due to the explosion of ChatGPT this year, he has — by extension — become the very visible face of the generative AI movement.
On Friday, the tech world was rocked by the news that Altman had been walked to the door by OpenAI’s board of directors. The reason given was, “He was not consistently candid in his communications with the board.”
The plot thickens. Microsoft, which has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI, has not only snapped up Altman, but OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman as well. The two will head up what Microsoft chief Satya Nadella says will be a “new advanced AI research team.” This morning, the plot coagulates even more. According to a report by Wired, “Nearly 500 employees of OpenAl have signed a letter saying they may quit and join Sam Altman at Microsoft unless the startup’s board resigns and reappoints the ousted CEO.”
Let me be clear: Most of what follows is pure speculation. I am not privy to any additional facts.
First, let’s review what we know:
- ChatGPT requires tremendous resources to run.
- Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI.
- Microsoft has baked OpenAI technology into many of its products.
- ChatGPT is insanely popular.
OK, let’s start with some speculation: OpenAI has to have a bonkers burn rate. There is just no way it is profitable at this point. Therefore, it has to rely on money from investors, of which Microsoft is the 800-pound gorilla.
Nobody has a clear view of what Altman did to antagonize his board of directors. For now, I am going to theorize that his offenses were of a business and not personal behavior nature. That’s my read based on the tone of the board’s announcement. Microsoft clearly does not find fault with Sam Altman.
Given all of that, I see three possible paths forward.
- OpenAI tries to continue business as usual
- Microsoft builds a ChatGPT competitor
- Microsoft acquires OpenAI
