On November 17, 2023, the board of OpenAI fired its CEO, Sam Altman. Microsoft quickly hired Altman and the co-founder Greg Brockman to lead a new AI research team. On November 20, more than 700 of OpenAI’s roughly 770 employees signed a letter. They said they “may choose to resign from OpenAI and join the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary.”
The letter demanded that the board resign and reinstate Altman and Brockman. On November 20, the chief technology officer, Mira Murati, posted: “OpenAI is nothing without its people.” On November 21, OpenAI announced that Altman would return as CEO. Most of the board was replaced.