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Sam Altman to Join Microsoft Following OpenAI Ouster
Microsoft said it is hiring Sam Altman to helm a new advanced artificial-intelligence research team, after his bid to return to OpenAI fell apart Sunday with the board that fired him declining to agree to the proposed terms of his reinstatement.
The developments ended a dizzying weekend of uncertainty but left other questions unanswered about the company, which has been at the center of the artificial intelligence boom.
With ChatGPT, Altman became the face of the AI moment, and he built the company into one of the most valuable startups in the tech industry. He also was key to the company’s close relationship with Microsoft, which became highly dependent on its technology and remains OpenAI’s largest investor with a 49% stake.
Within OpenAI, the situation remains tumultuous. Employees at OpenAI were in an uproar through the weekend and researchers threatened to quit the company unless Altman returned.
Co-founder and board member Ilya Sutskever—who fired Altman on Friday—tried to repair any damage in a post on X. “I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions,” he wrote. Sutskever had clashed with Altman around the safety of the company’s artificial-intelligence efforts in recent weeks.
讲解
反转反转再反转！全球围观AI界这场“宫斗”大戏
上周六，OpenAI公司解雇“ChatGPT之父”山姆·奥特曼的新闻引来全球哗然。在之后的五天中，山姆将何去何从，已经反转了至少三次：先是和董事会就回归一事未能谈妥；之后有意接受微软抛出的橄榄枝；截至本篇外刊制作完成，最新消息是山姆即将回归OpenAI担任CEO，公司董事会即将重组。山姆·奥特曼究竟何许人也？他和这次“宫斗”的主要策划者有何矛盾？一起来听今天的讲解。
Sam Altman to Join Microsoft Following OpenAI Ouster
山姆·奥特曼被OpenAI罢免后将加入微软
By Berber Jin, Deepa Seetharaman, Tom Dotan and Keach Hagey
Microsoft said it is hiring Sam Altman to helm a new advanced artificial-intelligence research team, after his bid to return to OpenAI fell apart Sunday with the board that fired him declining to agree to the proposed terms of his reinstatement.
上周日，山姆·奥特曼（Sam Altman）试图重返OpenAI的努力告吹，原因是将其解雇的董事会拒绝了他的复职提案。微软随即表示，将聘请奥特曼领导一个新的高级人工智能研究团队。
The developments ended a dizzying weekend of uncertainty but left other questions unanswered about the company, which has been at the center of the artificial intelligence boom.
此次进展为一个混乱的、充满不确定性的周末画上了句号。但对于这家处于人工智能热潮中心的公司，仍有一些问题没有得到解答。
With ChatGPT, Altman became the face of the AI moment, and he built the company into one of the most valuable startups in the tech industry. He also was key to the company’s close relationship with Microsoft, which became highly dependent on its technology and remains OpenAI’s largest investor with a 49% stake.
奥特曼凭借ChatGPT成为了AI时代的代言人，并将其公司（OpenAI）打造成科技行业最具价值的初创公司之一。他也是OpenAI与微软建立密切关系的关键人物；微软高度依赖OpenAI的技术，且目前仍是其最大的投资者，持有49%的股份。
Within OpenAI, the situation remains tumultuous. Employees at OpenAI were in an uproar through the weekend and researchers threatened to quit the company unless Altman returned.
在OpenAI内部，形势依旧动荡。整个周末，公司员工一片哗然，还有研究人员威胁称，除非奥特曼回归，否则就要辞职。
Co-founder and board member Ilya Sutskever—who fired Altman on Friday—tried to repair any damage in a post on X. “I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions,” he wrote. Sutskever had clashed with Altman around the safety of the company’s artificial-intelligence efforts in recent weeks.
上周五（促成）解雇奥特曼的是OpenAI的联合创始人兼董事会成员——伊尔亚·苏茨克维（Ilya Sutskever）。此后，他在 X（原Twitter）上发布了一篇文章，试图修复一切损害。他写道：“我对自己参与了董事会的行动而深感遗憾。”近几周，苏茨克维与奥特曼在公司人工智能项目的安全性问题上曾有过分歧。
生词好句
1.ouster
英 [ˈaʊstə] 美 [ˈaʊstər]
n. 罢免，废黜，革职
拓展:
apply for an ouster order 申请驱逐令
the calling for one’s ouster 让某人下台的呼声
2.helm
英 [helm] 美 [helm]
v. 执掌，领导（lead, command）；n. 驾驶盘，舵轮，帅印
拓展:
be at the helm 身居掌舵之位
take the helm 接手执掌之责
3.bid
英 [bɪd] 美 [bɪd]
n. 尝试，努力（an effort to do something or to obtain something）
拓展:
a bid for power 权力之争
one’s bid to return 为了回归而作出的努力
4.fall apart
崩溃，破碎
5.decline
英 [dɪˈklaɪn] 美 [dɪˈklaɪn]
v. 婉拒，拒绝（refuse in a formal way）
拓展:
decline to comment 不置可否；拒绝评论
decline to answer questions 拒绝回答问题
6.reinstatement
英 [ˌriːɪnˈsteɪtmənt] 美 [ˌriːɪnˈsteɪtmənt]
n. 复职
拓展:
instate v. 建立，安置，任命
reinstate someone 给某人复职，恢复某人的原本位置
someone is reinstated as some role 某人得以官复原职了
7.dizzying
英 [ˈdɪziɪŋ] 美 [ˈdɪziɪŋ]
adj. 令人眩晕的，令人头晕目眩的，令人眼花缭乱的
8.the face of something
…的门面、代言、代名词
9.be key to something
是…的关键，重点（be important to something）
拓展:
Good communication is key to our success.
良好的沟通是我们成功的关键。
10.tumultuous
英 [tʃuːˈmʌltʃuəs] 美 [tuːˈmʌltʃuəs]
adj. 动荡的（involving a lot of change and confusion and/or violence）
11.uproar
英 [ˈʌprɔː] 美 [ˈʌprɔːr]
n. 骚动，怨愤，轩然大波（It describes a situation in which there is a lot of public criticism and angry argument about something that somebody has said or done)
拓展:
roar n. / v. 咆哮
The article caused an uproar.
这篇文章引起了轩然大波。
12.clash with somebody around something
与某人就某事发生冲突或矛盾（以致无法和谐共存）
拓展:
conflict with 冲突，抵触
The new policy may clash with the interests of some employees.
新政策可能会与一些员工的利益发生冲突。
外刊原文
Sam Altman to Join Microsoft Following OpenAI Ouster
SAN FRANCISCO—Microsoft said it is hiring Sam Altmanto helm a new advanced artificial-intelligence research team, after his bid to return to OpenAI fell apart Sunday with the board that fired him declining to agree to the proposed terms of his reinstatement.
Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, late Sunday that Altman and Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president and co-founder who resigned Friday in protest over Altman’s ouster, will lead its team alongside unspecified colleagues. Nadella said Microsoft was committed to its partnership with OpenAI and that it would move quickly to provide Altman and Brockman with “the resources needed for their success.”
“The mission continues,” Altman wrote on X, reposting Nadella’s message.
Microsoft shares rose more than 2% Monday in offhours trading following the news.
Altman was shocked by OpenAI’s decision, previously feeling confident he would be able to return to the company he co-founded, according to a person familiar with his thinking.
OpenAI’s board quietly found someone else to take his spot: Emmett Shear, former CEO of Twitch, was made interim CEO.
In a post on X early Monday, Shear said he had accepted the job and would hire an independent investigator to generate a report on events leading to the upheaval at OpenAI.
“It’s clear that the process and communications around Sam’s removal has been handled very badly, which has seriously damaged our trust,” Shear said, adding he would push strongly for significant governance changes if necessary.
The developments ended a dizzying weekend of uncertainty but left other questions unanswered about the company, which has been at the center of the artificial intelligence boom after it launched its viral chatbot ChatGPT almost exactly a year ago.
With ChatGPT, Altman became the face of the AI moment, and he built the company into one of the most valuable startups in the tech industry. He also was key to the company’s close relationship with Microsoft, which became highly dependent on its technology and remains OpenAI’s largest investor with a 49% stake.
Altman was at OpenAI’s San Francisco office Sunday, his camp having succeeded in bringing the board to the negotiating table as investors and many employees pushed over the weekend to help him retake control of OpenAI.
Altman entered OpenAI’s headquarters with a guest badge and posted on X: “first and last time i ever wear one of these.” As talks continued Sunday, boxes of takeout food were seen being delivered to the company’s offices.
Ultimately, Altman’s insistence that the current board resign largely doomed his counter-rebellion, people familiar with the matter said. Despite pressure from investors, including Microsoft and venture-capital firm Thrive Capital, the board members fended off their attempts to reinstate Altman, empowered by an unusual corporate structure that gave them more power than investors that poured billions into the AI company.
Mira Murati, who had been named interim CEO Friday alongside news of Altman’s ouster, had indicated her support for Altman’s return, posting a heart in response to Altman’s post about his love for OpenAI on X on Saturday night.
Murati will stay in her role as OpenAI’s chief technology officer, one person familiar with the board’s thinking said.
Within OpenAI, the situation remains tumultuous. Employees at OpenAI were in an uproar through the weekend and several researchers threatened to quit the company unless Altman returned, according to people familiar with the matter. The board chose Shear partly because of his willingness to navigate such a tricky situation with employees, a person familiar with the board’s thinking said.
Co-founder and board member Ilya Sutskever—who fired Altman on Friday—told employees about Shear’s appointment late Sunday night. Following the news, some OpenAI employees posted on X that they had quit.
On Monday morning, Sutskever tried to repair any damage in a post on X.
“I deeply regret my participation in the board’s actions,” he wrote. “I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we’ve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company.”
Sutskever had clashed with Altman around the safety of the company’s artificial-intelligence efforts in recent weeks, but people familiar with the board’s thinking said those safety disputes weren’t a part of the decision to fire Altman.
“The board did not remove Sam over any specific disagreement on safety, their reasoning was completely different from that,” new interim CEO Shear said in his post. “I’m not crazy enough to take this job without board support for commercializing our awesome models.”
The abrupt shake-up at OpenAI turns on one of the oldest tales in Silicon Valley: a breakup between a founder and his board.
But in this case it was a very particular kind of founder—the beacon of Silicon Valley’s artificial-intelligence revolution—and a very particular kind of board, which was tasked with making social good a priority over profit.
Over the weekend, Altman made clear to his allies that if he were to return, he wanted a new board and governance structure, people familiar with the matter said.
Days after the board fired Altman, different explanations persisted for the initial firing.
On Sunday, a person familiar with the board stood by the board’s Friday statement citing Altman’s lack of candor. This person said there was no single precipitating incident but rather a mounting loss of trust over communications with Altman that led it to remove him as CEO. The person declined to offer examples.
The ouster from OpenAI wasn’t the first time Altman was asked to leave a company. Several years ago, senior leaders at the venture firm Y Combinator asked Altman to step down as president after mounting concerns about the time he was spending on his other business endeavors, including at OpenAI, according to investors briefed by the venture firm’s executives.
In addition to OpenAI, Altman recently hatched plans for two new business endeavors. He enlisted Apple’s former chief design officer, Jony Ive, to create a consumer hardware device. And he recently spent weeks in the Middle East gauging investor interest for a new startup aiming to create low-cost chips needed to train OpenAI’s artificial-intelligence models, people familiar with the matter said.
It is unclear whether those efforts, or the communication around it, played into Altman’s dismissal. Bloomberg earlier reported on the new chips venture. The Information and the Financial Times earlier reported the new Ive venture.
During negotiations about a possible reinstatement, Altman’s team proposed a series of high-profile tech executives to potentially helm a new board that would be more aligned to his business vision. Names floated include Bret Taylor, the former co-chief executive of Salesforce; Brian Chesky, the chief executive of Airbnb who has been a longtime confidant of Altman’s; and Laurene Powell Jobs, founder and president of Emerson Collective, people familiar with the matter said.
Microsoft’s executives also pushed for oversight in a new corporate structure, including a potential board observer seat that would have given it more visibility into the company’s governance. Any greater role on the board could have been a regulatory concern; Microsoft has kept its ownership stake in OpenAI below the 50% mark to avoid raising the attention of regulators.
Among all the investors, Microsoft might be the most deeply intertwined in the fate of OpenAI, and the startup’s turmoil has been a liability. Beyond being OpenAI’s largest backer, Microsoft has reoriented its business around the startup’s AI software.
Despite his business success, Altman had been losing the support of a board whose constituents changed as the company’s commercial efforts powered ahead. It was a board structure that he had ironically helped create and publicly promoted as he encountered questions about AI safety.
Before Friday’s dust-up, the board consisted of six people, including Altman. Then, it abruptly removed Brockman and voted to oust Altman. None of the four board members remaining were affiliated with the company’s big investors.
The four directors are: Adam D’Angelo, a former Facebook executive and the founder of the question-and-answer website Quora; Tasha McCauley, an adjunct senior management scientist at Rand; Helen Toner, a director at a Washington nonprofit; and OpenAI’s chief scientist, Sutskever.
Altman this weekend was furious with himself for not having ensured the board stayed loyal to him and regretted not spending more time managing its various factions, people familiar with his thinking said.
—Newley Purnell, Meghan Bobrowsky, Preetika Rana and Dana Mattioli contributed to this article.
Reprinted by permission of The Wall Street Journal, Copyright 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.