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Microsoft Preps to Welcome OpenAI Staffers Threatening to Jump Ship: Report

Nearly all OpenAI employees signed an open letter in support of their deposed CEO, threatening to jump ship and join him over at Microsoft.

Microsoft carved out space in LinkedIn’s San Francisco offices and has readied lawyers and human-resource staff in anticipation of hundreds of OpenAI employees potentially joining the company, Axios reported. After the multibillion dollar artificial intelligence startup canned its CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft swooped in to hire him and has since prepared for the possibility of also absorbing most of his staff. Nearly all OpenAI employees signed an open letter in support of Altman, threatening to jump ship to Microsoft with their ex-leader. “Microsoft has assured us that there are positions for all OpenAI employees at this new subsidiary should we choose to join,” the letter read. The possible mass exodus from Open AI, while far from a sure thing, would mark a massive victory for Microsoft, who would have succeeded in poaching both the hottest name in AI and much of the highly sought-after talent that pioneered the ChatGPT technology—all without needing to buy the company itself.