If you think OpenAI’s sacking of Sam Altman was just about board-level disagreement, think again

Sam Altman’s shock ousting from the company he co-founded, OpenAI, last week was one thing. But his rumoured re-hiring over the weekend, then newly announced move to Microsoft – alongside co-founder Greg Brockman – has exposed troubling fault lines in the tech sector.

At the time of writing, Altman and Brockman will be heading up Microsoft’s new advanced AI research team, an appointment that followed hot on the heels of peace talks breaking down at OpenAI last night. 

Before that meeting, Altman tweeted a photo of himself in OpenAI’s offices, holding a Guest badge and saying, “First and last time I ever wear one of these”. This suggested – perhaps – that he believed OpenAI would welcome him back, after a sacking that saw the $80 billion start-up announce:

Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in ...