700 employees threaten to resign! AI giant "Gong Dou Drama" stirs up the tech world

After more than 72 hours, the "palace fighting drama" of the American Open Artificial Intelligence Research Center (OpenAI) is still not over. On the evening of the 19th local time, Nadella, chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, confirmed that Altman, founder and former CEO of OpenAI, will join Microsoft to lead the new advanced artificial intelligence research team. Subsequently, media reported that about 500 OpenAI employees signed a public protest letter, saying that if OpenAI does not dissolve the company's board of directors, reappoint Altman as CEO, and return former chairman Brockman, they will resign and join Microsoft. As of the 20th local time, the number of employees who signed the above open letter has exceeded 700, accounting for about 95% of the total number of OpenAI employees. At present, there are increasing doubts about the future development of OpenAI. The New York Times said on the 20th that OpenAI's technology has promoted the birth of hundreds of start-ups. Now, many businesses are worried about their prospects.

The plot is gripping

On the 17th local time, Ultraman was suddenly dismissed by the OpenAI board of directors, and then his ally on the board of directors and former chairman Brockman also announced his resignation. OpenAI's board of directors posted on the social platform X that Ultraman's departure was the conclusion reached by the board of directors after deliberation, and that the board no longer believes in his ability to continue to lead OpenAI because he has always been not honest in communicating with the board of directors, hindering the board's ability to perform its duties.

Ultraman posted a photo of himself wearing an OpenAI visitor card on the social platform X on the 19th, with the caption "This is the first and last time I wear it".

As a heavyweight in the artificial intelligence industry, Ultraman's sudden dismissal shocked the outside world, and since most of the employees were kept in the dark, the news also caused discontent at OpenAI. On the afternoon of the 18th local time, it was reported that important investors in OpenAl were urging the OpenAl board of directors to revoke the relevant decision and try to push Altman back to the company as CEO.

On the 19th local time, Ultraman posted a photo of himself wearing an OpenAI visitor card on social platform X, with the text "This is the first and last time I wear it (referring to the visitor ID)". According to foreign media, one of the conditions for Ultraman's return to the company is that "the board of directors (the person who fired him) must leave." For Ultraman, this negotiation is more like an ultimatum to OpenAI's board of directors.

However, just when everyone thought that Ultraman might re-enter OpenAI, the company announced on the evening of the 19th local time that it had appointed Hill, the former CEO of the streaming game platform Twitch, as interim CEO. Subsequently, dozens of OpenAI employees also chose to resign. A number of employees, including OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, posted on the social platform X, "Without employees, OpenAI is nothing", and Ultraman retweeted more than 10 pieces of the content with "heart" emojis.

According to a report by AFP on the 20th, after Ultraman confirmed that he would not "return", the vast majority of OpenAI's 770 employees signed a joint letter saying that unless the board members who fired Ultraman resigned, they would follow Altman and leave. "Your actions show that you are not capable of supervising OpenAI," the letter reads. "Microsoft assured us that if we opted in, there would be positions for all OpenAI employees. According to the New York Times, companies such as Google, Anthropic and Meta are also extending "olive branches" to OpenAI employees.

A number of people familiar with the matter revealed to the technology media The Verge on the 20th that Altman is still willing to return to OpenAI if the board members are willing to step down.

Microsoft CEO Nadella told Bloomberg Television that Microsoft is "open" to where Altman goes, and will work with Microsoft whether he joins Microsoft or returns to OpenAI. According to US media reports, Microsoft is OpenAI's largest investor and important partner. Since the establishment of OpenAI, Microsoft has invested about $13 billion in OpenAI.

OpenAI's self-destructive future?

The crisis triggered by OpenAI's firing of Ultraman has been in the global spotlight in the past few days. In addition to the crisis of confidence brought about by the change at the top, the company may even face legal risks. Reuters quoted sources on the 20th as saying that some OpenAI investors are considering filing a lawsuit against the OpenAI board of directors because they are worried that the originally well-functioning company will collapse and cause losses to their investments. At present, it is unclear whether investors will actually initiate such a lawsuit, but some legal experts believe that the board of directors has corporate governance powers, and investors have little chance of winning this lawsuit.

The Wall Street Journal commented on the 21st that just a week ago, OpenAI was also very promising to become the next Google or Facebook. Now, it's being compared to Netscape, Silicon Map and Sun, once-glamorous companies that have been reduced to the dust of Silicon Valley's history. The report mentioned that OpenAI was originally ready for a large-scale IPO to enhance its position as a global AI leader and become a "predator" in the capital market with a huge valuation of $86 billion. But after the botched "palace fight", one of the hottest companies in Silicon Valley for many years collapsed, and the "self-harming" self-blow seemed a little stupid.

The New York Times also said on the 21st that the most obvious loser in this infighting is OpenAI itself. According to The Information, OpenAI's customers are looking for an exit opportunity, suggesting that the company may be hit hard by the massive outflow of business.

Who is the winner

After Microsoft announced the addition of Ultraman, Microsoft's stock price rebounded. The Wall Street Journal said on the 21st that Microsoft's stock price fell after Altman was fired last Friday, but it hit a record high on Monday because investors were excited that Microsoft may finally have the talent and technology behind ChatGPT. At the same time, the outlet believes that it is easy to draw the following conclusions from the "soap opera" staged by OpenAI in the past few days: Microsoft will be a winner in the field of AI, ready to beat all competitors, large and small, at any time.

Some U.S. media mentioned that in addition to holding about 49% of the shares of OpenAI's for-profit entity, Microsoft also allegedly has the exclusive right to use OpenAI's existing intellectual property in perpetuity, including ChatGPT. The Wall Street Journal revealed that Microsoft is already building the structure to take in OpenAI's existing employees. According to a person familiar with the matter, the department led by Altman and Brockman will report directly to Microsoft's chief technology officer, Kevin Scott.

The U.S. media believes that hiring Altman and other key talents from OpenAI will give Microsoft more direct control over AI technology that is considered key to the future. And revenue from AI software will bring Microsoft's revenue growth to an average of 14% annually over the next three years, which will push Microsoft's annual revenue towards the $300 billion mark. The market view is that with Microsoft's capital and computing power, coupled with OpenAI's talents, it has every chance to replicate a new OpenAI.

However, there is also an opinion that AI is still in a very early stage and everything is moving at a rapid pace. Cloudflare co-founder and CEO Matthew Prince said on the social platform X that he doesn't think Microsoft is the winner of the events of the past few days. Because the likelihood that OpenAI's veterans will still be working at Microsoft after three years is close to zero.

At the same time, many big tech companies are also developing AI models, and the Wall Street Journal said that the OpenAI incident exposed the debate about the ethics and risks of AI, as well as the fear of creating artificial general intelligence (AGI), and there will be more shocks in the emerging field of AI.