Satya Nadella calls OpenAI’s 2023 Altman ouster attempt “amateur”

In short: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told a court that OpenAI’s board tried to remove Sam Altman in 2023 without giving a clear explanation.

What happened

Satya Nadella, the chief executive of Microsoft, testified in court about OpenAI’s brief decision to fire its CEO, Sam Altman, in 2023. Nadella said he asked OpenAI’s board why Altman was fired, but he “never got a specific answer.” He called the episode “amateur city.”

OpenAI’s board said at the time that Altman was removed because he was “not consistently candid,” meaning they believed he was not always fully honest or open with them. Nadella agreed that dishonesty could be a reason to fire a CEO. He still said the board did not clearly explain what Altman had done.

The testimony came during a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk. Musk argues that OpenAI moved away from its original charitable mission and became too focused on making money. Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest investor, is accused in the case of helping that shift.

Court filings and emails also showed Nadella’s concern about Microsoft becoming too dependent on OpenAI. In a 2022 email, he wrote: “I don’t want to be IBM and OpenAI to be Microsoft,” referring to an old tech deal where Microsoft eventually became far more powerful than IBM. He also warned that Microsoft was “a very thin layer” on top of Nvidia and that much of the valuable technology belonged to OpenAI.

Why it matters

This case could affect how OpenAI is allowed to operate and raise money in the future, including plans to sell shares to the public. It also highlights how much control, and risk, large companies face when they fund and rely on fast-growing AI partners.

Source: Financial Times