In November 2023, there was an upheaval at OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was fired and what followed was employee unrest, Microsoft announcing it is hiring Altman but ended with him being reinstated. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoftspoke about the chaotic few days and Microsoft’s position on it.Nadella expressed his desire for effective governance and stability at OpenAI, emphasising that he is unconcerned about the organisation’s nonprofit structure and has no intentions of exerting greater control over his collaborative partner. “What we just want is good stability,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg. “We invested, we partnered when they were whatever they were and whatever they are today — a capped-profit, nonprofit, what have you. So I’m comfortable. I have no issues with any structure.”
Nadella clarified that Microsoft, having secured a non-voting board observer role at OpenAI amid the recent leadership changes involving CEO Sam Altman, does not seek an actual seat on the board of the AI research company.
Under Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft has reportedly invested a substantial $13 billion in OpenAI, becoming the company’s largest investor. The integration of OpenAI technology, notably the foundation for ChatGPT, has led to a comprehensive overhaul of Microsoft’s entire product lineup—a development Nadella hailed as the “first AI product that we all could relate to.”
Despite Microsoft’s significant investment and collaboration with OpenAI, Nadella asserted that the company is not overly reliant on OpenAI. He pointed out the reciprocal nature of their partnership, with OpenAI depending on Microsoft for crucial technological components while Microsoft continues to independently research and develop its own AI programs. “I feel very good about the construct we have,” he said about Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI. “I feel at the same time very capable of controlling our own destiny.”