Read Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott’s email to CEO Satya Nadella, president Brad Smith and other C-suite executives on what made OpenAI Board sack Sam Altman – The Times of India

Microsoft chief technology officer, Kevin Scott, sent an email to CEO Satya Nadella and president Brad Smith, along with other C-suite executives, explaining the series of events that led to the firing of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in November 2023. An email, dated November 19, 2023, suggests that the “shock” firing was not the result of a single ideological clash, but rather a mix of a variety of issues between llya Sutskever and Altman.

Two friction points between llya Sutskever and Sam Altman

The email, posted by X handle Internal Tech Emails, said that Sutskever “had been increasingly at odds with” Altman over two primary friction points. The first point of failure was an internal ‘battle’ over computing power. As ChatGPT’s popularity surged, the demand for GPUs became a zero-sum game within the company.According to Scott, Altman’s decision to prioritise GPU for the consumer products and API division infuriated the core research teams because they felt the…