On Monday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella declared to CNBC that the company continues to hold OpenAI and Sam Altman in high regard after OpenAI dismissed Altman last Friday, drawing criticism from employees and investors. Nadella added that it is evident that OpenAI's model of governance requires alteration.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told CNBC's Jon Fortt on Monday that the governance structure of OpenAI needs to be altered, three days after the abrupt firing of CEO Sam Altman. "At this point, it's evident that something has to be changed regarding the governance," Nadella stated. He further noted that Microsoft will "enter into a good dialogue with their board about that." In his first press interview since Altman's removal, Nadella addressed worries of long-term damage at OpenAI and said that the critical artificial intelligence research keeps progressing, as does the collaboration with Microsoft. However, his comments did not clarify any doubts as to where Altman and fellow OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, who was the company's chairman, will eventually end up. Earlier on Monday, Nadella declared that Altman, Brockman and their colleagues would join Microsoft as part of a new AI research group. This followed the news that ex-Twitch CEO Emmett Shear had been named OpenAI interim head as Altman was looking to depart. Throughout Monday, it grew less certain that Altman and Brockman would actually become part of Microsoft. Hundreds of OpenAI employees signed a letter to the company's board insisting that they resign or else the staff may prefer to leave and accompany their former boss at Microsoft.Nadella said it is up to the OpenAI employees whether they remain in their current positions or transfer to Microsoft, adding that his company has the necessary elements to keep innovating on its own. "I'm open to both options," he said. The rapid reinstatement of Altman began to look like an option on Saturday as news spread that a group of distinguished investors, including Microsoft, Tiger Global, Thrive Capital and Sequoia Capital, were working to reverse the board's decision from the day before. None of those firms had board seats, and they were taken by surprise by the decision.In a post on X late Saturday night, Altman wrote, "i love the openai team so much." Brockman, who quit the company after the board removed him as chairman together with the ouster of Altman, reposted the comment with a heart symbol. Other OpenAI employees did the same.Nadella told Fortt that Microsoft respects OpenAI's nonprofit foundations and shares its view that AI needs to be developed and implemented in a secure manner. "We want to make sure that we're dealing with not only the advantages of technology, but the unintended consequences of the technology from the start, instead of waiting for things to occur," Nadella said.WATCH: A timeline of the drama between Sam Altman, OpenAI and Microsoft
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