It turns out that there's still much to learn about the controversial decision of the previous OpenAI board to fire Sam Altman. While the main reason for the chief executive's removal is still anyone's guess, it was revealed that the OpenAI board hid the decision on purpose.
Microsoft Was Kept Out of the Loop
Just when you think that there's nothing else to learn about OpenAI's surprising decision, a recent report revealed that the former board of the AI company did not inform Microsoft of the major decision for a reason.
Microsoft has been relatively successful in the AI department due to its partnership with OpenAI, which Sam Altman then headed as the chief executive. This may have led the board to believe that the software giant's loyalty lies with the reinstated CEO.
In order to prevent the ouster's news from reaching Altman before it happened, the OpenAI board kept the news from its biggest investor to prevent Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella from warning Sam Altman, as reported by The Verge.
In fact, the board believed that Microsoft would not only let the decision slide but agree with them as they fired the face of OpenAI. We all know that was not the case since Microsoft was willing to accept Altman with open arms in its AI research division.
OpenAI may have thought that Microsoft would agree due to the alleged reason why Altman was fired in the first place, which was about him not being completely transparent about their work, resulting in distrust from the higher-ups.
Until now, concerns over the lack of safety guardrails in AI tools and services are still the assumed reason for the ouster. Since Microsoft is also dedicated to making sure that AI will remain safe, OpenAI was led to believe that Microsoft would think the decision was just.
Microsoft's next steps were also surprising. It turns out that while they believe the ouster was "mind-bogglingly stupid," they also planned to back the interim CEO Mira Murati, explain why they fired Sam Altman, and eventually rehire him.
If that didn't work, they planned to use the influence of their 49% stake to convince the board to reverse the decision. Lastly, they planned to hire Altman within Microsoft as well as those who were willing to follow the tech executive.
All Plans End in Altman Still Working in AI
Based on the plans that Microsoft made after the news of the ouster broke, they were more than willing to back Sam Altman and his expertise in the field. All three plans ended up with Sam Altman working as a leader for AI advancement.
At the end of the day, the reason for his ouster is still vague. If anything, people are confused once again after Microsoft's President Brad Smith clarified that OpenAI did not have an AI breakthrough.
In case you missed it, it was first believed that Altman was fired after OpenAI researchers sent a letter to the board with concerns over Q*, a rumored artificial general intelligence that could threaten humanity. Smith said that we are still years away from creating such a technology.
