Microsoft hires former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman after a weekend of chaos

• Sam Altman is joining Microsoft.
• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said both Altman and Greg Brockman were joining the company.

Former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is joining Microsoft.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced on Monday that he was adding both Altman and Greg Brockman, the former OpenAI president, to the company's ranks.

"We're extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team," Nadella said in a post on X. "We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success."

In the post, Nadella also said the company remained committed to its partnership with OpenAI and looked forward "to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI's new leadership team and working with them."

Altman reshared Nadella's post, adding, "The mission continues."

Altman was ousted from OpenAI in a dramatic board decision Friday. The nonprofit board of the company behind ChatGPT said it no longer had "confidence in his ability to continue leading."

The decision was met with shock from the tech community, and three other researchers were reported to have followed the CEO out the door.

Over a chaotic weekend, the board appeared to consider reversing the Altman decision, with the former CEO even pictured in the company headquarters. But The Verge reported that these discussions later fell apart and that the board named Emmett Shear, Twitch's cofounder and former CEO, as Open AI's interim CEO.

Shear is set to take over the role from Mira Murati, the company's former chief technology officer, who had publicly expressed support for Altman.

Representatives for Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.

In a post on X, Brockman said the new Microsoft team would consist of him, Altman, Aleksander Madry, Szymon Sidor, and Jakub Pachocki. He said the team planned to "build something new" and "incredible."