--- title: "Microsoft Immediately Hires Sam Altman After He’s Fired by OpenAI" description: "To cap off one of the most bizarre weekends in tech history, Microsoft has announced that it is hiring freshly-fired OpenAI chief Sam Altman." date: "2023-11-20" modified: "2023-11-20" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/microsoft-hires-sam-altman" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "microsoft" - "OpenAI" - "sam altman" - "the digest" --- # Microsoft Immediately Hires Sam Altman After He’s Fired by OpenAI ![To cap off one of the most bizarre weekends in tech history, Microsoft has announced that it is hiring freshly-fired OpenAI chief Sam Altman.]() *\Image: Justin Sullivan via Getty / Futurism\* ## You're Hired! To cap off one of the most bizarre weekends in tech history, Microsoft has announced that it's hiring [freshly-fired OpenAI chief Sam Altman](). In a post on [X-formerly-Twitter](), Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that although he continues to have "confidence" in OpenAI — which just sacked Altman — he was hiring the exec to "lead a new advanced AI research team" at the tech monolith. The timing of the tweet — just before midnight Pacific Standard Time, and just a few hours after OpenAI told employees that despite reports to the contrary, it would not be hiring the cofounder and now-ex-CEO back after all — suggests that despite Nadella's insistence to the contrary, there *is* some strain between the firms over Altman's ouster. This stunning saga began just a few days ago, when on Friday afternoon OpenAI's board dropped an incredible evening news bomb: that it was firing Altman, seemingly out of nowhere. "Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities," the company's board wrote of the [surprise ouster](). "The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI." Things at the AI firm became almost immediately [more dramatic shortly thereafter]() when OpenAI president [Greg Brockman]() — who Microsoft is also hiring to lead AI research — and [three other senior researchers]() at the company resigned in solidarity with Altman. ## Ctrl-Altman-Delete By the next day, it was already becoming clear that the board's decision was causing major financial anxiety, with company investors — including Microsoft, which was reportedly [blindsided by the OpenAI board's decision]() — [pushing for the ousted CEO's reinstatement](). The OpenAI board apparently took that pressure to heart and invited Altman back to its San Francisco headquarters to discuss the possibility of a return that doesn't seem meant to be. Along with announcing that Altman would not be coming back after all, OpenAI said that it was appointing Twitch cofounder Emmett Shear as its interim CEO, [replacing chief technology officer Mira Murati]() in the role that [she'd been named to]() just a few days prior. Though this isn't the first time OpenAI has had a leadership shakeup this sensational — Elon Musk was, after all, also a cofounder, and purportedly [left in a huff in 2018]() — this debacle comes not just in a massive chapter for the swiftly-climbing, but also for AI in general. Although we don't know more about what's going on behind the scenes — we've reached out to OpenAI to ask about it, but we're pretty sure their press inbox is beyond full right about now — two things are clear: there's much more to this drama than meets the eye, and much more to come. **More on AI:** [*In New Experiment, Young Children Destroy AI at Basic Tasks*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()