Microsoft Hires Fired OpenAI Boss, Stock Price Immediately Rises

Sam Altman, the brain behind the ChatGPT artificial intelligence chatbot from OpenAI, was unexpectedly fired by its board of directors on Friday, November 17, 2023. Altman was deemed dishonest in his communication with the board.

"We no longer have confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI," the OpenAI Board of Directors said last week, as quoted by *Katadata* from *The Verge* on Monday, November 20, 2023.

The dismissal prompted the resignation of one of Altman's colleagues, Greg Brockman. In his farewell message, he expressed pride in the long journey with the OpenAI team, which began eight years ago in his apartment.

"However, based on today's news [Sam Altman's dismissal], I am resigning," Brockman said in a post on his Twitter account on Saturday, November 18, 2023.

The departure of the two OpenAI CEOs was warmly welcomed by Microsoft. The company hired Sam Altman just hours after negotiations with the OpenAI board failed to reinstate him as CEO.

According to *Katadata*, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, announced that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman would join to lead an advanced AI research team.

“We are thrilled to share that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, along with their colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team,” Nadella said.

“We look forward to moving quickly to provide the resources they need to succeed,” Nadella added.

Sam Altman then retweeted Nadella's tweet which read "the mission continues". Nadella responded by highlighting Altman's important role at Microsoft.

“We’ve learned a lot over the years about how to give founders and innovators the space to build independent identities and cultures within Microsoft, including GitHub, Mojang Studios, and LinkedIn, and I look forward to you doing the same,” Nadella continued in the tweet.

The recruitment seems to have given a positive sentiment to Microsoft (MSFT) stock movements.

Yahoo Finance data shows that MSFT stock reached US$377.44 per share at the close of trading on Monday, November 20, 2023. This stock value increased by 2.05% from the end of trading on Friday, November 17, 2023, which was US$369.85 per share.

Monday's trading value was the highest in the last month. The second highest was recorded on Thursday, November 16, 2023, at US$376.17 per share.

The lowest MSFT stock value in the last month occurred on Thursday, October 26, 2023, at US$327.89 per share.