OpenAI named ex-Twitch boss Emmett Shear as interim CEO, while outgoing chief Sam Altman moved to backer Microsoft (MSFT.O), in a surprise turn of events that capped a tumultuous weekend for the startup at the heart of an artificial intelligence boom. The appointments, settled late at night on Sunday, followed Altman’s abrupt ousting just days earlier as CEO of the ChatGPT maker and ended speculation that he could return. Microsoft rushed in to attract some of the biggest names that left OpenAI, including another co-founder Greg Brockman, to keep key talent out of the hands of rivals including Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) and Amazon.com (AMZN.O) while seeking to stabilize OpenAI, in which it has invested billions. The startup’s newly appointed interim head moved quickly to dismiss speculation that OpenAI’s board ousted Altman due to a spat over the safety of powerful AI models. Shear vowed to open an investigation into the firing, consider new governance for OpenAI and continue its path of making available technology like its viral chatbot. “I’m not crazy enough to take this job without board support for commercializing our awesome models,” Shear said, adding: “OpenAI’s stability and success are too important to allow turmoil to disrupt them like this.” The startup dismissed Altman on Friday after a “breakdown of communications,” according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. Governing OpenAI is a non-profit. Its four-person board as of Friday consists of three independent directors holding no equity in OpenAI and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever.
via reuters: OpenAI appoints new boss as Sam Altman joins Microsoft in Silicon Valley twist