Deuce Coups
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Editor in Chief
Dear Reader,
What a busy weekend in tech news. On Friday, we heard that OpenAI, creators of ChatGPT, had fired CEO Sam Altman, and by Monday, he had already found a new job at Microsoft, along with cofounder Greg Brockman. More than 700 OpenAI employees signed a letter saying they would quit – and quite possibly jump to Microsoft – if the OpenAI board didn't hire Altman back and resign. Microsoft said Altman and Brockman would lead Microsoft's new advanced AI research team. OpenAI, on the other hand, went into free fall, announcing an interim CEO whose tenure lasted for two days before another CEO was named.
Wall Street was very happy for Microsoft, driving the share price to a record high. Meanwhile, OpenAI was roundly condemned – both for firing Altman and for the way they did it. The word on the street was that Microsoft pulled off a "coup" by snagging Altman, Brockman, and whoever else they can pull over. Altman and others also referred to his ousting by the OpenAI board as a "coup," with a very different spin on the term. Two coups in four days is a lot – even at the frenetic pace of IT.
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