Sam Altman, the former CEO of OpenAI, the developer of generative AI platform ChatGPT, has resurfaced at Microsoft just days after he was pushed out by the board of directors.
Altman and his fellow co-founder Greg Brockman, who was also president of OpenAI, will be leading a research team focused on AI, according to Microsoft.
In a statement issued on X, Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said that the duo would be "joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team”.
“We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success,” he added.
This comes days after Altman and Brockman were ousted from the company they formed by the board. According to a blog post from the directors, the departures "follow a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI".
It had originally been stated that Brockman would stay on as president in the interim while CTO Mira Murati would take on the CEO role until a replacement was found. However, it is unclear whether this is still the case given the Microsoft announcement.
Microsoft is also one of OpenAI's main financial backers, adding further intrigue to the developing story.
For his part, Altman has issued a single line statement on X - "the mission continues".