When Sam Altman, then CEO of the leading American AI company Open AI, which is behind the chatbot Chat GPT, was fired on Friday, the news hit like a bomb in Silicon Valley in the US.
The board’s cryptic wording that he had not been completely sincere, and that the company was thus unable to take responsibility, immediately set off speculation about what had happened. During Saturday and the night to Sunday, new information leaked out that the IT giant Microsoft is now trying to bring Altman back to Open AI.
The question is what actually happens.
— Here, one can only speculate so far. It is said that he tried to raise his own venture capital fund, but that is nothing he should have been fired for. A promise possibly, says Björn Jeffery from SvD Tech brief.
There are rumors of internal disputes between Altman and the board regarding the security of AI services.
Argument and power struggle?
— It may be, but it is denied internally in an email, it is said. Everything sounds very strange.
Tomas Otterbeck, head of analysis at Redeye, believes that it could possibly be about some kind of power play. The board may have felt that Sam Altman, and perhaps even chairman Greg Brockman who left the company after Altman was fired, had taken too much power.
But Microsoft has clearly reacted to the course of events. The IT giant has invested over SEK 100 billion in the AI company, he explains, and Open AI is Microsoft’s most important investment. Now information comes from various sources that Microsoft is pushing to bring Altman back to the company.
— Open AI’s technology is found in many of Microsoft’s products. If Open AI has problems, Microsoft also has problems.
But Microsoft has no control over Open AI. Although Microsoft owns 49 percent, the company does not have a representative on the board. Completely incomprehensible from a Swedish perspective, he notes.
— Corporate governance in American technology companies works poorly.
For Microsoft, this is a huge risk. The company cannot afford uncertainty. The company with its gigantic market capitalization has enormous importance for the American stock market. It is one of the seven major technology companies in the United States, which is most important for the rise of the entire American stock market.
Pension savers exposed
Swedish investments are also dependent on the large technology companies in the US, explains Björn Jeffery. Almost all Swedish pension savers are in one way or another exposed to the large American technology companies.
Now Microsoft is trying to reassure its shareholders and the market by sending out messages that Microsoft has confidence in Open AI. But behind the scenes, the situation is probably quite different.
— I guess Microsoft has called Open AI and said “just fix this”.
Tomas Otterbeck believes that if this is about a power play, Altman may have a good chance of coming back.
— If the majority of the shareholders want him back, he may end up coming back. The board does not seem to consist of people with super power, says Tomas
— Microsoft will press over the weekend, so that the corporate governance is redone and Altman can come back. My guess is that the board has resigned before the weekend is over, says Björn Jeffery.