Crisis at world’s top AI firm as boss is fired before he’s snapped up by Microsoft amid fallout

CHAOS caused by humans has led to a crisis at the world’s top artificial intelligence firm. 

The drama started with the shock ousting of OpenAI’s boss and now the company is facing open rebellion from its troops calling for the board to be fired.

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Events exploded late on Friday night when the company behind AI chatbot ChatGPT announced it had fired founder Sam Altman as he was “not consistently candid in his communications” and it “no longer had confidence”.

The blow was delivered out of the blue to Mr Altman on a hastily arranged Google Meet conference call with the board. OpenAI’s chairman, Greg Brockman, posted on X moments later: “Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today.” 

There is still no clear evidence why Mr Altman was fired and the company has made it clear there has not been “financial malfeasance” or specific disagreement about safety. In a bizarre twist, it then emerged OpenAI had come under huge investor pressure to bring back Mr Altman.

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Mr Altman posted a photograph of his OpenAI visitor pass on Sunday, saying it would be the “first and last time” he’d be using it — adding weight to reports he was mounting a comeback.

But OpenAI announced it had hired Emmett Shear, former boss and founder of video streaming site Twitch as its next chief executive. 

The move was followed up by another twist that Microsoft, one of OpenAI’s biggest investors, had swooped on Mr Altman and Mr Brockman to lead its own AI department. 

Elon Musk, owner of X, posted “Microsoft achieved de facto control of OpenAI some time ago. It is only becoming obvious now”. 

The OpenAI coup has led to 505 of its 700 employees, including senior data scientists, demanding the board resigns or they will join Microsoft too.

Two bid to steal Magpie

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Telecom giant BT GROUP has made a surprise approach for the Stockport-based firm and is competing with AURELIUS Aurelius Group, which owns Footasylum and last week bought The Body Shop.

MusicMagpie floated on London’s stock exchange with a £200million valuation in 2021 but a series of profit warnings have seen it fall to £20million.

Steve Oliver, who founded the business initially to buy and sell second-hand CDs, made £30million in the flotation and still has about a ten per cent stake in the firm.

CCS Insight analyst Kester Mann said that interest in musicMagpie “reflects the burgeoning market for second-hand devices.”

No go at Halfords

HALFORDS has rebuffed a £1.4billion merger approach from van rental firm Redde Northgage because the price is too low.

Halfords boss Graham Stapleton is trying to evolve the company into a car parts and services business by buying up a number of garages.

It already has 640 garages and 758 mobile repair vans and is valued at £504.8million. Redde Northgate has a fleet of 130,000 vans and is valued at £826.7million.

Telegraph fight

MPs are calling for the government to use national security laws to block the Barclay family’s bid to take back control of The Telegraph with Abu Dhabi funds.

The family, which had owned the daily and Sunday titles since 2004, lost control of them in June over £1billion of unpaid Lloyds debts. They are using funds part backed by Man City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed to return.

Tory MPs have warned of the “influence over a quality national newspaper being passed to a foreign ruler”.

ASHTEAD, a construction and heavy machinery equipment rental firm, blamed the Hollywood’s writers strike and a shortage of hurricanes for its 15 per cent drop in share price. It said its earnings would be 2 to 3 per cent below expectations.

Car axe threat

THE UK faces the threat of the car industry relocating to Europe or the US, risking hundreds of thousands of jobs.

 A report by the Commons Business and Trade Committee said there is insufficient capability for battery production, with 100GWh of battery requirements needed by 2030. The UK’s only battery factory in Sunderland has less than 2GWh of capacity.

MPs expressed concern the UK would become reliant on imports from China and elsewhere. TATA has said that it will build a new £4billion battery factory in Somerset.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk