Ousted OpenAI co-founder joins Microsoft

Microsoft confirmed Monday that OpenAI co-founder and former CEO Sam Altman will lead a new artificial intelligence project at the company. The change comes after the OpenAI board of directors fired Altman on Friday. Fellow OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman is also joining Microsoft, leaving his role as president at the ChatGPT parent company after Altman’s firing. Microsoft has invested about $13 billion in OpenAI since it launched in 2015. Microsoft shares rose in Monday morning trading after the company announced Altman’s switch.

What’s next for OpenAI? Twitch co-founder and former CEO Emmett Shear now serves as interim CEO for OpenAI, giving the company its third CEO in three days. Shear told CNN that OpenAI would hire an independent investigator to determine what happened in the leadup to Altman leaving the organization. Microsoft remains committed to “partnership with OpenAI,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Dig deeper: Read Emma Freire’s report in WORLD Magazine on what Christian computer scientists say about AI.