Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella calls for stability and good governance at OpenAI during Davos appearance.
OpenAI experienced a tumultuous period at the end of 2023, which involved CEO Sam Altman leaving the company, accepting a position as head of an AI team at Microsoft, and then returning to OpenAI as CEO with a new board. Amidst these changes, it was revealed that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had been facilitating discussions. It was suggested that Microsoft, as an investor in OpenAI and the company behind ChatGPT, expressed dissatisfaction with Altman’s departure and desired his return, a wish that was ultimately granted. Now, Nadella has expressed his desire for consistency and good governance at OpenAI, but he is not concerned about the company’s nonprofit structure and does not seek greater control over his partner.
The Microsoft-OpenAI relationship
“We just want good stability,” he said in an interview at Bloomberg House in Davos. “We invested, we partnered when they were what they were and what they are today — for-profit cap, non-profit, what have you. So I’m comfortable. I don’t have a problem with any structure.”
Nadella said his company, which was given a silent board observer role at OpenAI after CEO Sam Altman’s surprise ouster and quick return, is not seeking a board seat, according to a Bloomberg report. Under Nadella, Microsoft has pumped $13 billion into OpenAI, making it the startup’s biggest investor. The software giant has also renewed its entire product range around the technology behind ChatGPT. According to Nadella, the product is “the first artificial intelligence product that we can all relate to”.
Still, Nadella said Microsoft is not overly dependent on OpenAI, noting that OpenAI relies on Microsoft for key pieces of technology needed to create its products, and that Microsoft also researches and develops its own AI programs in addition to its partner.
“I feel very good about our structure,” he said of the partnership. “At the same time, I feel very capable of controlling our own destiny.”
As the use of artificial intelligence evolves to enable new user interfaces and new models for applications, Microsoft sees an opportunity to participate in hardware that takes advantage of the development, he said.
Although Microsoft last week overtook Apple Inc. as the most valuable company by market capitalization, Nadella isn’t too impressed with the milestone, which he called “an indicator of lagging.”
“The last thing you want to do is peg a stock price that we know means nothing tomorrow, especially in our industry,” he said. “Honestly, the problem in some sense concerns all of us, whether we can bet on what’s coming next.”
(Courtesy of Bloomberg)
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