MS Executives Who Tried to Recruit Altman and OpenAI Staff Express Gratitude to Employees

MS CTO Delivers First Memo to Employees Since Incident
"Will Continue Close Collaboration with OpenAI"
Nadella CEO Emphasizes "AI Is a Means, Not an End"

Microsoft (MS) executives, who had attempted to recruit Sam Altman and OpenAI employees amid the CEO dismissal crisis at OpenAI, reaffirmed their commitment to OpenAI on the 22nd (local time). They also expressed gratitude for the efforts of their employees who worked hard throughout the incident for the first time.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

According to the US IT media The Verge on the 22nd (local time), Kevin Scott, MS Chief Technology Officer (CTO), stated in a message to employees that "I am grateful to many people who have helped in various ways over the past few days." Scott’s message was the first communication directed at MS employees since the OpenAI board decided to dismiss Altman on the 17th.

Scott mentioned the news of Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, co-founders, returning to OpenAI, saying, "The events of the past few days were uncertain times for OpenAI colleagues and attracted a lot of attention," and emphasized, "Nothing has changed." This meant that the close collaboration between MS and OpenAI in the AI business would continue as before. He added, "As we have for more than four years, I hope to work with Sam and his team."

MS, holding a 49% stake in OpenAI as the largest shareholder, was the most spotlighted company in this incident. Initially, it was expected that Altman’s departure from OpenAI would cause the greatest damage to MS, but on the 20th, MS announced the direct recruitment of Altman and Greg Brockman, reversing the course of the situation. MS also pledged to hire many OpenAI employees who supported Altman and provide them with the same compensation.

At the same time, MS quickly prepared office space for them at LinkedIn’s headquarters, a subsidiary located near the OpenAI office, and began providing Apple MacBooks and other equipment, with HR and legal teams standing by, according to foreign media reports.

This incident is expected to increase MS’s influence over OpenAI. Since 2019, MS has invested a total of $13 billion (approximately 17 trillion KRW) in OpenAI, and developers from both companies have collaborated to accelerate AI technology development. Especially this year, the two companies actively cooperated as the world-shaking generative AI, ChatGPT, was integrated into MS’s core products one after another.

Following CTO Scott, Satya Nadella, MS CEO, also sent a message to employees. He stated, "Technology, including AI, is just a tool and a means, not an end," and expressed, "Our ultimate goal and mission is to empower individuals and groups worldwide." He then expressed gratitude, saying that over the past five days, all employees focused on this mission and tried to help in every possible way.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.