Former president Greg Brockman and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have been formally appointed by Microsoft to lead a new advanced artificial intelligence (AI) research team. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced the appointment of Emmett Shear, co-founder of Twitch, as acting CEO after OpenAI confirmed it. The company intends to continue investing in OpenAI.

Microsoft names Sam Altman and Greg Brockman
The hiring of former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and president Greg Brockman was announced by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on November 20 on X. They’ll be leading a brand-new, innovative AI research team.

We’re extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team. We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success.

Nadella states that the company is still committed to collaborating with OpenAI and has faith in the company’s product roadmap. “Our ability to continue innovating with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, as well as our ability to support our partners and customers,” he said. Microsoft is eager to work with Emmett Shear and the new OpenAI leadership team.

Sam Altman responded to Nadella’s post by saying, “The mission continues.” Though Altman had been in discussions to rejoin OpenAI as CEO, the company’s four-member board rejected the talks, citing Altman’s lack of performance as justification. The talks had been supported by former interim CEO Mira Murati.

Elon Musk also responded to Satya Nadella’s post made fun of the fact that they were calling, video conferencing, and using Microsoft Teams for other things now. Musk has been enhancing X lately with features like financial services, calling, and other capabilities that will compete with some of Microsoft’s products.