More than 700 employees of OpenAI are threatened with termination

On Monday, more than 700 of OpenAI's 770 employees signed a letter with "threatening" content. They are threatening to cancel, which puts the future of OpenAI in jeopardy. Employees of one of the most successful AI start-ups are demanding that recently ousted CEO Sam Altman come back and take his former position at the company.

One of the members of the board of directors, who dismissed Altman from his position on Friday, changed his mind on Monday and signed a letter with the other employees. Three people familiar with the matter confirmed this to the New York Times.

Member of the board of directors Ilya Sutskever also posted on the social network X, formerly Twitter, that he "deeply regrets his participation in the actions of the board".

Altman's ouster by the four-member board -- which said Altman had not been honest with them but did not explain how -- set off a wild weekend in which Altman joined Microsoft to launch a new project in artificial intelligence. Microsoft, which has invested $13 billion in OpenAI, actually owns a 49 percent stake in the company.

The employee letter requesting Altman's reappointment says Microsoft has assured OpenAI employees that there are positions for them if they decide to join its new AI arm.

OpenAI and Microsoft declined to comment. Emmett Shear, who was named interim CEO by OpenAI's board late Sunday night, could not be reached for comment Monday because he was on another call.

The upheaval calls into question the future of one of the fastest-growing companies in Silicon Valley history. At a time when the industry was shaken by mass layoffs, it was OpenAI that created hundreds of new jobs.

"It is the debacle of the decade,” said the founder of Lexion Gaurav Oberoi, a start-up that relies on OpenAI to help companies simplify legal, sales and supplier contracts. "This is a lesson in how you can destroy enormous value and your reputation overnight."

Earlier Monday, Shear wrote in a 530-word post on X that he plans to hire an independent investigator to review the details before and after Altman's firing. He pledged to gain insight from employees, partners and investors to shape how he would shape the company's management team. "I believe it will take longer than a month to make real progress,” said Shear, the former CEO of live-streaming website Twitch. Later, Shear spoke with Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft.

During an appearance on Bloomberg Television on Monday, Nadella said his message to Shear was clear. "Hey, look, we're very, very committed to OpenAI and the company's mission and journey, and they can count on us,” said Nadella. "It was never my intention to harm OpenAI,” said Sutskever, co-founder of OpenAI. In his post on Xu, he wrote: “I love everything we've built together and will do everything I can to bring the company back together.” Altman shared the message on his profile and added three red hearts.

Sutskever did not respond to a request for comment.

In addition to Altman, several key OpenAI employees have already joined Microsoft's new AI arm. Among others, Greg Brockman, president of OpenAI, who left the company in solidarity after Altman was ousted. Early Monday morning, Brockman said in a post on X that Altman and a trio of OpenAI researchers, Jakub Pachocki, Szymon Sidor, and Aleksander Madry, would be joining him at Microsoft.