Microsoft Hires Altman After Shock OpenAI Firing

The past year has taken OpenAI from a relatively unknown startup to one of the most important companies in the world, and it just had a hell of a weird weekend. The company's board unexpectedly fired founder and CEO Sam Altman late on Friday, which spurred high-profile resignations from the AI powerhouse. Despite rumors that OpenAI could reverse course, Altman isn't returning. Instead, he's accepted a position at Microsoft, OpenAI's biggest investor.

Before 2023, OpenAI was a quirky AI startup with lots of venture capital. Integrating its latest large language models (LLMs) with Microsoft Bing changed everything. Suddenly, the technology sphere was all about generative artificial intelligence, and Microsoft was in the lead for once. Google scrambled to catch up, bungling the release of its competing Bard AI. Just when Microsoft looked to have it all figured out, drama within OpenAI has upended everything.

The company ...