Not only Sam Altman, but also a co-founder of OpenAI is leaving. Microsoft: has signed a long-term agreement with OpenAI

Earlier, the OpenAI board announced that Sam Altman will step down as CEO and leave the board, while another co-founder of OpenAI, Greg Brockman, also announced his departure. Microsoft CEO emphasized in a post that their long-term relationship with OpenAI remains unchanged.

Not transparent? OpenAI removes Sam Altman as CEO, effective immediately!

Another Co-Founder of OpenAI Resigns

Greg Brockman, President and Co-Founder of OpenAI, tweeted on the 18th, expressing shock and sadness at the actions of the board along with Sam Altman.

Greg Brockman claimed that they are still clarifying the reasons but are very grateful to all the outstanding individuals, clients, and investors who have collaborated with OpenAI.

He described the brief process in which Sam Altman was informed of his dismissal:

• Sam Altman received a text from OpenAI's Chief Scientist, Ilya Sutskever, informing him of a meeting on Friday afternoon.

• Sam Altman attended a video conference where all board members except Greg Brockman were present, and Altman was informed of his dismissal.

• Greg Brockman was later informed by Ilya Sutskever that he was being removed from the board.

• At around the same time, OpenAI released a statement.

• OpenAI's CTO, Mira Murati, learned about this the night before, and the OpenAI management only found out after the statement was released.

Greg Brockman stated:

The support has been amazing, thank you, but please don't worry about us, we will be fine. Greater things are coming.

Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today.

Let us first say thank you to all the incredible people who we have worked with at OpenAI, our customers, our investors, and all of those who have been reaching out.

We too are still trying to figure out exactly…

— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023

Microsoft CEO: Long-Term Agreement Signed with OpenAI

Satya Nadella emphasized in a tweet that the long-term partnership with OpenAI remains unchanged, saying:

We have signed a long-term agreement with OpenAI that enables full access to everything we need to realize our innovation agenda and product roadmap. Microsoft is committed to our partnership, and we will work together with Mira Murati, the interim CEO of OpenAI, and the team to ensure that the world benefits from AI technology.

As you saw at Microsoft Ignite this week, we're continuing to rapidly innovate for this era of AI, with over 100 announcements across the full tech stack – from AI systems, models, and tools in Azure, to Copilot. Most importantly, we're committed to delivering all of this to our…

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) November 17, 2023

Why Was Sam Altman Fired?

Speculation continues about the true reasons for Altman's departure, such as Microsoft's involvement, among others.

A Reddit post from a user claiming familiarity with the internal situation at OpenAI gained significant attention, pointing out several factors:

• Sam Altman was too profit-oriented in a situation where security checks were incomplete.

• The controversial and off-track idea of GPT Store shifted OpenAI's core values.

• Greg Brockman, who always supported Sam Altman, also left as a result.

The GPT Store is a platform where users can create and sell their own My GPT:

Train your own ChatGPT! OpenAI's "My GPT" helps you craft apologies and even create games?

Sam Altman previously stated at an event at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that there are currently no plans to train GPT-5, and it will not happen for a long time. Will his departure lead to slower product iterations at OpenAI?