The Microsoft executive said he would not object to Sam Altman returning to OpenAI

Microsoft, which has invested a large amount of capital in OpenAI, said yesterday that it will hire Sam Altman (Sam Altman) and Greg Brockman (Greg Brockman) to its staff, after their departure from the leadership of the startup. However, the commotion of the OpenAI staff and the transition of the initiator of the coup Ilya Sutskever (Ilya Sutskever) does not allow us to consider the issue of the return of the former CEO to the company closed. Even the head of Microsoft does not object to this development of events.

CEO Satya Nadella hinted at this in an interview with CNBC and Bloomberg, as TechCrunch explains: “Obviously, we want Sam and Greg to find their fantastic new home if they don’t want to be at OpenAI.Asked about the possibility of Altman returning to OpenAI, Nadella said it would be decided by the company’s board of directors, management and employees. Microsoft will work closely with OpenAI, and employees of that company can decide for themselves where they want to work (at OpenAI or Microsoft), so Nadella is open to both options.

Of OpenAI’s current board of directors, only two members object to Altman’s return as CEO, as yesterday the company’s chief scientific officer Ilya Sutzkever expressed solidarity with the vast majority (more than 90%) of the team, which asked the board of directors to bring Altman back to the company.

Nadella admits that Microsoft would like to see reforms to OpenAI’s governance structure, as existing mechanisms do not protect its interests as a major investor. Company officials are not yet ready to accept recently appointed Emmett Shear, whose candidacy was nominated by OpenAI’s board of directors, as leader. In this environment, Sam Altman’s return to the CEO post doesn’t seem all that unlikely. Shire announced his willingness to begin his work as head of OpenAI, conducting an independent investigation into the reasons for Altman’s resignation and publishing its results.