Ousted OpenAI CEO Altman joins Microsoft, hundreds of former coworkers threaten to follow

The decision this past weekend by ousted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to join Microsoft was followed Monday by hundreds of workers at his former place of employment reportedly signing a letter threatening to follow Altman to his new venture.

The letter gives the OpenAI board members who on Friday unexpectedly fire Altman an ultimatum to either resign or face an employee exodus to Microsoft, according to CNBC.

Among those who purportedly signed the letter are interim CEO Mira Murati and co-founder and board member Ilya Sutskever, who initially voted to oust Altman. 

OpenAI developed the popular and remarkably effective chatbot ChatGPT. 

“Your actions have made it obvious that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI,” the letter obtained by Wired reportedly states.

The number of employees signing the letter reportedly represents an overwhelming majority of OpenAI workers and states Microsoft has “assured” those considering such a move would have a job at the new subsidiary that Altman will apparently lead.

Altman was reportedly forced out over unspecified issues with his communications.

Microsoft as of Monday morning had yet to comment on whether the tech firm would hire employees who choose to leave OpenAI.