Nearly all of OpenAI's employees have signed a letter threatening to leave if the board doesn't resign over its decision to oust Sam Altman, while one member of the board has publicly expressed regret over his vote.
More than 700 employees have reportedly signed a letter threatening to leave for job offers at Microsoft unless the current board resigns after appointing two new independent directors and reinstates Altman and now-former president Greg Brockman. The company has 770 staffers.
"Microsoft has assured us that there are positions for all OpenAl employees at this new subsidiary should we choose to join," a copy of the letter published by the NYT reads.
Microsoft didn't respond to a request for comment.
The letter also suggests former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor and Will Hurd as candidates for the independent director roles, and accuses the board of "negotiating in bad faith" and implicitly "allowing the company to be destroyed."
"The process through which you terminated Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman from the board has jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and company. Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAl," a copy of the letter published by the NYT reads.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff also publicly offered new jobs to OpenAI researchers on Monday.
"Salesforce will match any OpenAI researcher who has tendered their resignation full cash and equity ... to immediately join our Salesforce Einstein Trusted AI research team under Silvio Savarese," Benioff announced on social media.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced late Sunday evening that the tech giant was bringing Altman and Brockman directly into its wings to launch a new AI research division.
That deal with Microsoft was apparently not as solidified as it first appeared, though. The Verge reported Monday morning that Altman was still angling to return as OpenAI's CEO pending the resignation of its board.
Altman posted a photo on X of himself wearing an OpenAI visitor badge Sunday, to which Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon, one of the top signatories to the open letter, replied with his own photo showing Altman on a couch inside the building appearing to take the badge photo. "First and last time I ever wear one of these," Altman wrote.
"We have more unity and commitment and focus than ever before. We are all going to work together some way or other, and I'm so excited. One team, one mission," Altman wrote around 10:30 a.m. Monday.
About an hour later, Altman followed up that "Satya('s) and my top priority remains to ensure OpenAI continues to thrive. We are committed to fully providing continuity of operations to our partners and customers. The OpenAI/Microsoft partnership makes this very doable."
Altman has also been posting heart emoji in response to tweets from OpenAI employees over the past 24 hours or so, including a post from his OpenAI co-founder and board member Ilya Sutskever who had reportedly played an instrumental role in Altman's ouster.
"I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we've built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company," Sutskever posted shortly after 5 a.m. on Monday.
"❤️❤️❤️ ," Altman replied.
